


you and me and her and him

by doughnutwhore



Series: just the three of us [1]
Category: Supergirl
Genre: F/F, NOT A THREESOME THO, OH AND JEALOUS KARA OFC, but saturncorp wins too, eventual polyamorous relationship, god i hate how they're turning kara into a cheater, imra deserves better!, lames isn't canon because yuck, lena and imra are friends, not sure if i'm gonna make mon-el a less hateable character in this, read to find out and stop being judgmental, supercorp ending, they need to be friends on the show tbh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-16
Updated: 2018-11-10
Packaged: 2019-05-07 15:47:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 37,137
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14674308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/doughnutwhore/pseuds/doughnutwhore
Summary: “yeah. they’ve been out there for almost an hour now. Lena keeps holding Imra’s hand.”alternatively: in which Lena and Imra bond over their shared misery (because Kara and Mon-El are too damn insensitive), Kara is super jealous, and things end up better than what happened on the showCOMPLETEread tags for more info





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: work's been a bore and this has been a great escape. please note that i haven't been watching supergirl recently. in fact i gave up on the show right after the crossover (because i have no patience for mon-el and lames) but i've seen the recent promo with kara completely going ooc and flirting with mon-el in front of HIS WIFE. so i guess this is sort of kind of a fix-it thing. oh, also inspired by that picture of katie and amy. they look good together, right? (but then again, katie looks good with every WOMAN) so, leave a comment. tell me what you think. and maybe drop in a few suggestions of what you think should happen next. thanks bbs
> 
> *work of fanfiction. no copyright infringement intended

Kara has been growing closer to Mon-El and Lena likes to believe that it’s only because Kara hasn’t gotten the closure that she needs. Surely her righteous best friend wouldn’t dream of being someone’s other woman despite her unresolved feelings, right? Well, at least that’s what Lena thinks. Or maybe that’s what she likes to think -a defense mechanism of some sorts to protect her wounded little heart and her ever growing attraction towards Kara. Whatever the case, Lena is fairly certain that Kara would never play homewrecker. But Imra, Mon-El’s wife, isn’t so sure.

Imra has been watching Mon-El and Kara’s interactions as of late and every glint in Mon-El’s eyes brings a stabbing pain to the pit of her stomach. She knows her husband, knows the look that he gives Kara, like years haven’t passed and the ring on his finger doesn’t exist. She sees the way that he smiles at her, so sweetly and so openly, that she thinks he’s never smiled at her like that before. It’s a painful thing to watch, and as much as she knows that he loves her, she can’t help but think that there’s a part of him that still loves Kara too. She can only hope that that part doesn’t grow larger than the space in him that she already owns.

Still, it gets a bit too overwhelming sometimes -watching Mon-El and Kara- that she has to excuse herself to gather her bearings. She walks over to the DEO’s balcony and looks at the marvel that is National City, all skyscrapers and busy streets. It’s a good distraction, listening to honking cars and motorcycles speeding past limits, watching people cross lanes to head over to wherever it is that they’re needed. She tends to get a little lost in it, as she is now that she doesn’t notice that Lena has joined her.

Lena Luthor, Kara’s best friend, who somehow still doesn’t know that Kara is Supergirl even though she’s possibly the most intelligent being on Earth.

“I’m sorry, am I disturbing you?” Lena queries.

“No -but even if you are, it would be a welcomed disruption,” Imra replies wryly.

They lapse in comfortable silence for a few minutes before Lena clears her throat and says, “Imra?”

“Hmm?”

“Would you like to have lunch with me?”

Imra’s eyes widen, both in surprise and confusion. Hasn’t Lena been informed of her marriage with Mon-El?

Lena, sensing Imra’s trepidation, quickly appeases. “Oh, no. I’m only asking as –,“ Lena pauses, unsure of what to say next since they aren’t even acquaintances. Still, she clears her throat and forges on, “-as someone who would like to be your friend.”

“Why?”

Lena tilts her head.

“Why do you want to be my friend?” Imra clarifies.

Lena gives her a sad empathetic smile before looking back to the DEO’s main hall. Imra follows Lena’s movements until her eyes fall upon her husband and Kara -Supergirl- conversing animatedly.

She turns back to Lena with a newfound understanding. She knows that yearning look. She knows it all too well, actually.

“I see,” she whispers. “So you have feelings for Supergirl.”

“Supergirl. Kara Danvers. With or without the suit, it’s still her, isn’t it?”

Imra’s eyes widen. “You knew all along?”

“Glasses aren’t a very good disguise,” Lena replies with a smirk - that earns a light chuckle from the other woman.

“You’re right. They aren’t.”

Both women look out onto the city as they lapse into another bout of silence -until Imra turns back to Lena and says, “Lunch?”

Lena smiles broadly.

They walk together towards the main hall, completely engrossed in conversation, because Lena had just asked what Saturn was like, that they neglect to notice the pointed stares and raised eyebrows delivered their way.

They’re almost out of the room when J’onn loudly clears his throat, effectively cutting off the women’s discussion and obtaining both of their attentions.

“Where are the two of you off to?” He asks.

“Oh, Lena and I are going out for lunch,” Imra casually answers.

“Yes, apparently Imra and I share a special bond over kale,” Lena adds, causing the woman beside her to laugh. “We’ll be back as soon as we’re finished.”

They exit the hall, leaving the others gaping after them.

-

Lena doesn’t have many friends. In fact, she can count just how many she has with only one hand. She admits that she isn’t very good at making them -and keeping them- but sitting across from Imra at a bistro near the DEO makes her feel like she isn’t completely hopeless.

Imra eats her salad with just as much gusto as Kara does with potstickers, but with a little more refinement. She’s staring at the other woman, noting that she’s actually very pretty and briefly wonders what women like her and Kara see in Mon-El. He’s definitely not that much of a looker. And personality wise, well… Or maybe she’s just biased because Kara has unsettled feelings for him, and she has undisclosed ones for Kara. What a mess, she thinks.

Imra notices the blatant staring and blushes under Lena’s scrutiny.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to watch you like that,” Lena sheepishly apologizes.

“It’s quite alright,” Imra clears her throat. “So, you and Kara...”

“-Are just friends,” Lena supplies.

Imra nods and there’s that look of understanding again.  Lena notes just how perceptive the other woman can be. Or maybe she’s just predictable.

Lena sighs, “I do like her. A lot. But I see the way that she interacts with Mon-El -,”

“Who happens to be my husband,” Imra gloomily interjects.

“-Yes. And I guess that’s the reason why I came to you in the first place. I know in my heart that Kara won’t act upon her lingering feelings for Mon-El, and I’m sure that you feel the same way towards him. But we’ve seen the way that they look at each other.”

“So you came to me to have someone to be miserable with,” Imra deduces, grinning amusedly.

Lena chuckles, shaking her head before she purses her lips and whispers, “I just wanted to talk to someone who understands.”

Imra stays patiently quiet, prompting Lena to continue.

“I don’t have that much friends Imra. And I know that we aren’t on that level yet -or if we’ll even reach that point. I just – I don’t have anyone to talk to about this. And when I saw you look at them and leave, I just thought that you might empathize with me, with the feeling of loving someone who might still love another.”

Imra nods. “Yes, I do understand. And you’re right. I do trust Mon-El, and I believe that he’s grown to love me over the course of our marriage, but he looks at Kara and I know that he sees the life he could have had, the life he obviously still wants for himself. How could I compete with that?”

Lena looks at Imra as Imra looks down dejectedly, and Lena feels a surge of admiration for Imra who clearly has been keeping these feelings to herself.

Lena offers her hand, tentatively sliding it open-palmed on the table. Imra briefly looks at her before resting her hand over the other woman’s.

“Maybe we can form something out of this,” Lena offers. “It’ll be mutually beneficial for the both of us to have someone to share our feelings with instead of keeping them to ourselves, right?”

Imra chuckles, “Stop making it sound like a business deal, Lena.”

Lena smiles sheepishly, obviously ashamed and mentally kicking herself for being so terrible at making friends.

Imra, seeing Lena’s hangdog expression, squeezes her hand, catching her attention. “We can be friends,” she says with soft eyes and overflowing sincerity that Lena’s breath catches in her throat. Imra beams at Lena’s hopeful expression and cheekily adds, “After all, we do share a special bond over kale.”

Lena laughs, genuinely laughs, and thinks that maybe, just maybe, she isn’t as hopeless at making friends as she thinks.

-

They return to the DEO after an hour, immersed in a conversation about Saturn’s technological advances and how Lena could probably replicate a few of the planet’s machines for healthcare purposes.

They continue their conversation as they amble towards the room where Brainy is, eager to have him join the discussion.  

“Okay, that’s weird,” Alex declares. “When did that start?”

“I haven’t seen them talk ever until just a while ago,” Winn says.

Kara crosses her arms above her chest, confusion etched across her features. “They look like they’ve been friends for a while.”

“Hmm, Imra would have told me something,” Mon-El says, also verily muddled.

Without another word, Kara steps out of the main hall and follows Imra and Lena towards a smaller room, entirely intrigued as to when the women’s friendship started.

She sees them animatedly talking with Brainy when she steps in -but their discussion is cut short when she enters. Imra clears her throat and gives Lena a teasing smirk before turning back to Brainy, causing Lena to flush lightly.

Kara tilts her head. What was that all about?

“Lena.”

“Supergirl.” Lena strides towards Kara, her face back to it’s carefully crafted mask. “Is there anything I can help you with?”

“Oh, no, not at all. I just noticed your closeness with Imra. I’m glad that you’ve made friends here at the DEO,” Kara says in her Supergirl voice and Lena fights the urge to laugh.

Lena turns back to Imra before facing Kara again. “Yes, she’s very empathetic. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who understands my situation better than she does.”

That earns a reaction from Kara. She tightens the arms that she has crossed above her chest, sort of like a petulant child, “Oh, well, that’s very good for you.”

Lena notices Kara’s sudden stiffness of course -because she notices everything about her. “Is everything alright?”

“Everything’s swell,” Kara replies a little too forcefully. “Well then, Miss Luthor. I’ll leave you to it.”

Lena frowns as Kara turns her back and leaves. Miss Luthor?

Kara ambles towards the main hall, and Alex immediately notices the scowl on her face. She jogs to meet her younger sister on the foot of the stairs, instantly linking their arms together when she reaches her.

“Is something wrong?” Alex asks.

“No, nothing’s wrong.”

“Mmhmm.”

Alex gives Kara a pointed look, but Kara doesn’t break. “It’s nothing. I promise.”

Alex relents, doesn’t push and Kara’s grateful for the reprieve. After all, she can’t very well tell her sister that she’s feeling overwhelmingly jealous over Lena and Imra, right?


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: why wait, right? lol thank you so much to everyone who's read the first chapter, commented, left a kudos, bookmarked, etc. etc.

It’s been weeks since their newfound friendship started, and Lena has to admit that she enjoys Imra’s company very much -maybe a little too much since she’s made notes to let Imra on to her floor at CatCo and in to her office at L-Corp at any time. In her defense, she knows that Imra doesn’t get out of the DEO too often, so she thought it would be nice for the other woman to have a change of scenery, even if it’s just into another building.

Imra usually visits her on days when she’s not too busy. Sometimes she comes over for lunch -at Lena’s behest, of course.

They’ve grown significantly closer over the weeks that they’ve been friends -so close, in fact, that Imra had asked Winn to buy a cellphone for her.

“Why would you need a phone?” Winn had asked, looking at Imra as though she’d grown three heads.

Imra had merely brushed Winn off, matter-of-factly answering him with, “Because I need something to communicate to Lena with.”

So now Imra and Lena text each other when the latter’s not too busy. They no longer talk about Mon-El and Kara that often though, only when Imra notices something that she finds particularly upsetting. Most times Lena would reassure her that Kara’s actions during one of Imra’s observed interactions are perfectly platonic. Other times, Lena would share Imra’s misery, which would end up in both women planning a meet-up.

Today is one of those days. Imra had been walking towards her room in the DEO when she spotted Mon-El and Kara in what seemed like a staring contest. Mon-El was looking at the blonde woman with such adoration that Imra’s stomach had started churning. She immediately rushed towards her room, locked herself up, and called Lena.

The desperation laced in Imra’s voice paired with her evident sniffling, had been enough for Lena to say, “I’ll have a car pick you up in ten minutes.”

Imra quickly gets changed. She picks her phone up and slides it into her jacket pocket. She’s out of her room and is halfway down the stairs when Mon-El catches sight of her.

“Imra? Where are you going?”

She stops in front of him. “Oh, I’m off to see Lena.”

“You’ve been seeing Lena a lot lately,” he states, his brows beginning to crease.

“Yeah, she’s such a great friend,” she answers as vaguely as possible. If only he knew the reason why -but then again, she couldn’t bring herself to bring it up.

“Hmmm. Alright. Be safe, okay?” He says before pulling Imra in to place a chaste kiss on her forehead.

Imra sighs and savors the moment, “I will,” and then she’s out of the building and is sliding in to the car that Lena had sent for her.

She arrives at CatCo minutes later and rides the elevator to Lena’s floor, striding out into the office as soon as it dings and opens.

She sees James first. James Olsen, Kara’s ex-something and presently Lena Luthor’s suitor. He’s a handsome man, but with what Lena had told her about him, she isn’t entirely sure how he had managed to switch from “Lena’s a Luthor” to “Lena’s not like her family” in such a short amount of time, so Imra’s not sure if she trusts his intentions towards Lena.

“Imra, hi,” he says when he sees her.

“Hi James. Is Lena here?”

“Yes, I believe she’s in the balcony waiting for you.”

Imra nods, says her thanks and walks over towards the balcony. Sure enough, Lena is there, seated on one of the chairs, two cups of steaming coffee on top of the table in front of her.

She paces closer towards the CEO, a bright and grateful smile plastered across her face. Lena beams when she looks up at her.

“I’m glad you’re finally here. You sounded so distressed when you called.”

“I was. But I think being here is making me feel less upset,” Imra says as she takes the seat across from Lena.

“That’s good. So… what happened?”

-

Kara walks in to the main office and sees James staring out at the balcony. She follows his gaze and sees two black-haired women conversing seriously.

“Is that Lena and Imra?” she asks. Wasn’t Imra at the DEO?

“Yeah. She’s been coming here quite often,” James shares. “I wonder what they’re talking about. I’m sure it’s serious since Lena even sent a car to pick her up.”

Kara’s brows crease, suddenly feeling something heavy settle in the pit of her stomach. “She did?”

“Yeah. They’ve been out there for almost an hour now. Lena keeps holding Imra’s hand.”

Kara briefly entertains tuning in to their conversation, but she squashes the thought away almost instantly. She doesn’t want to intrude.

“Do you think Lena likes her?” James suddenly asks, bringing Kara out of her reverie.

Kara sputters, “Why would you assume that?”

“I don’t know. I just noticed how close they are. They always seem to be in a world of their own when they’re together -and they’re almost always together when Lena’s not busy. And you know Lena, she doesn’t trust anyone too quickly. But with Imra -,”

Kara could only nod in agreement as she watches Lena’s gentleness with Imra. Lena’s giving the other woman the softest of looks and Imra looks like she could embrace Lena with gratitude. It claws at Kara’s chest and chokes the air out of her lungs.

James looks over to her when all he receives is silence.

“I’m going to the restroom,” Kara says.

Kara bolts to the lavatory and opens the door to it with a tad more force than is necessary. She walks over to the sink, removes her glasses, and washes her face. She rubs her eyes as she repeatedly tells herself: Lena doesn’t like Imra.

Of course, she doesn’t. Lena knows that Imra is married to Mon-El. Lena wouldn’t do that.

She’s about to tell herself the same thing for the thirteenth time when the restroom door opens. She quickly puts her glasses back on to her face.

It’s Imra. She enters the threshold, her eyes widening a little when she sees Kara by the sink.

“Kara,” she acknowledges.

And Kara almost rolls her eyes in annoyance and overpowering jealousy because Lena is so soft around Imra and Lena’s voice is in her head saying _I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who understands my situation better than she does._

“Imra,” Kara says, trying for polite but it ends up sounding clipped. “I didn’t know you were here.”

“Oh, I called Lena. She sent a car to pick me up.”

Kara internally glares and thinks that it still doesn’t answer why the other woman is here. She composes herself and tries donning a smile. “Oh, well, I’m glad you’ve found a friend in her.”

Imra’s mood immediately brightens and Kara scowls at what comes next. “Yes. She’s a great friend. She’s such a good listener, you know? And she goes out of her way to make herself available for me even though she’s probably the busiest person in National City. I’m honestly so lucky.”

Kara manages to nod her head and hum in agreement. Only when Imra exits the lavatory does Kara realize the little thumb-shaped dent she’s left on the sink.

-

“Something’s going on Alex,” Kara blurts out as soon as she enters Alex’s apartment. She walks past her older sister and plops herself down on the couch, opening the box of pizza on the coffee table and taking a slice.

“Okay, what are we talking about?” Alex asks, clearly confused. She closes the door behind her and stalks over to her younger sister.

“Lena and Imra.”

Alex nods her head and there’s a twinkle of understanding in her eyes. “I see.”

“They’ve been seeing each other often, Alex. Too often, if you ask me.  And they text each other! I swear I even caught Imra giggling like a schoolgirl once while she was on her phone! And you know what the best part is? Lena apparently sends cars to pick Imra up from the DEO because Imra wants to see her! I have so much proof Alex!”

Alex purses her lips and tries her best to stifle the amused laugh brewing within her. It doesn’t work though, and soon enough she’s chortling like Kara had just shared a very funny joke.

“What’s so funny?”

“Oh Kara, sweetie. Green doesn’t suit you at all,” Alex answers with a wide grin.

“Green? What do you -? You think I’m jealous? Alex, that’s not - pfft. I am not!”

Alex cocks a challenging brow.

“No, I’m really not, okay? I’m not jealous. Not even one bit.”

But Alex only narrows her eyes as if challenging her younger sister to lie to her face one more time.

Kara rolls her eyes and puffs, “Okay but only because Lena’s my best friend. My best friend -and Imra’s stealing her away from me!”

“Best friend? Really?”

“Yeah, best friend,” Kara says a little too defensively.

Alex raises her brow even higher as she crosses her arms above her chest.

“Alex, I don’t know what you’re trying to imply -,”

“Kara?”

“Yes?”

“I’m gay and I have eyes and I know you more than anyone else. Lie to my face again and I’m cancelling sisters’ night for a whole month.”

That does the trick. Kara visibly deflates, and Alex is quick to wrap her arms around her sister.

“Hey, Kara, I’m sorry, okay? I didn’t want to pressure you into telling me anything, honest. But I’ve seen the way that you look at Lena when Lena’s not looking back, and I know that it’s been eating you alive -because if you haven’t told me then you haven’t told anyone. Wait, have you?”

“No… No one knows.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

Kara rests her head on Alex’s shoulder, “because I know that you’re still a bit wary around her. And because saying it aloud makes it truer. I’m scared, Alex. I think -I think I like her more than I liked James.”

“Wow. So, you like her a whole lot, huh?”

Kara nods weakly.

“Okay, first, yes, I do acknowledge that I’m still a bit cautious around her -but believe me when I say that I’m trying to change that because she is constantly proving herself to be one of the good guys. And she’s actually a pretty easy person to talk to. She’s a big nerd, yeah, but she’s okay. Second, what’s so wrong about it being true?”

“What if she doesn’t like me back, Alex? I can’t lose my best friend.”

Alex rolls her eyes. “God you’re such a useless bisexual.”

Kara whips her head up with a frown on her face. “What does that mean?”

“It means that I see the way that Lena looks at you when you’re not looking back.”

There’s a flash of hope in Kara’s eyes but it instantly disappears, replaced with the heavy look of disbelief.

Alex sighs. She tucks a strand of hair behind Kara’s ear and lovingly says, “If you want to keep it to yourself, then that’s fine. They’re your feelings. If you want to tell her, then I’m aboard that as well. I’m on team Kara. Always. Okay?”

Kara smiles, wrapping Alex in a hug. “Thanks.”

They part after a minute and when Kara moves to take another slice of pizza Alex clears her throat, smirks, and teasingly says, “So you have the hots for Luthor, huh?”

Kara only blushes.

They lapse in comfortable silence. Alex studies her sister’s face and notices the way that Kara has her brows knitted in deep thought.

Kara concentrates long and hard -and then her face lights up as she comes to a decision.

“I’m going to tell her,” she finally declares.

Alex’s eyebrows shoot up to her forehead. “About your feelings?”

Kara holds both of Alex’s hands with her own. “No… About Supergirl.”

There’s a pleading look in Kara’s eyes -a look that tells Alex that she knows what she’s doing, that she trusts Lena, that she’s hidden this from her best friend long enough, and that this is one secret she’s at least ready to reveal.

Alex sees that look and immediately understands. She squeezes Kara’s hands and nods.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: oh god it's been too long! i'm so sorry. but ya girl went to singapore for a week and then she couldn't find the motivation to write anything... but here you go. i hope it's worth the wait. also, i really want to write mon-el as a redeemable character but man it's easier to write him as a dick. tell me what you think?

Lena knows that something is off. Everyone at the DEO seems so stiff when she enters. She briefly wonders if her mother had resurfaced and now everyone’s focusing on her family name again.

She walks the halls towards the changing area but is stopped by Supergirl herself.

“Lena.”

“Supergirl,” she acknowledges.

“I was wondering if I could have a word with you,” Supergirl asks, her voice holding a hint of fear, and Lena thinks she sounds more like Kara at that moment.

She nods her head, “Of course.”

Supergirl walks towards a closed room, Lena following suit. She opens the door and gestures for Lena to step inside.

Lena enters and sees a table in the middle of the area. Atop the table rests a pair of very familiar glasses.

Oh, Lena thinks. Is she –?

“Lena…” Supergirl starts. Lena has her back on the superhero. She’s standing by the table, fingers flitting on the pair of glasses as a tear slides down her cheek.

She sniffles. So this is what complete trust feels like.

“Lena are you crying?”

Lena turns around to face Supergirl, her hands fiddling with the pair of glasses she’s picked up from the table. She whispers, “Why are you telling me this now?”

Supergirl tenses. She gasps, “You -you knew?”

Lena looks up at the other woman then, her eyes soft and glistening with unshed tears. “Of course, I knew. You’re my best friend.”

Kara’s shoulder drops as she strides towards Lena and wraps her in a fierce embrace.

Currents crackle to life when they touch, and Kara swears she hears Lena’s heartbeat quicken.

Time seems to have stopped for Kara and Lena and both women feel like they’ve been enfolded in each other’s arms for hours.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner,” Kara whispers.

They’re both still wrapped in each other, and Kara thinks this is the smallest she’s ever seen Lena -Lena who is soft and smells of vanilla and milk and honey and is so much shorter than she is when she’s not wearing killer heels. She savors the moment before she takes Lena’s shoulder and pushes a little. She wants to look at Lena in the eyes when she says her piece.

“I hope you understand that trust wasn’t the issue. I trust you, Lena, with my life. I swear. I just -being with you meant being Kara Danvers. Just Kara and Lena -and that’s so much less complicated than being a Luthor and a Super. You -you grounded me, tethered me to my humanity. And I wanted to have that, you know?”

Lena cries quietly. She looks down when she murmurs, “I thought you didn’t trust me enough.”

“God no!” Kara firmly states, and Lena cracks a small smile.

“Sorry it’s the Luthor genes that are making me dramatic,” Lena tries to joke before she purses her lips. She wipes her tear-stained cheeks with the back of her hand and looks up at Kara. “Why did you decide to tell me now, though?”

Because I want to start being honest with myself, Kara thinks but she doesn’t say it out loud. Instead, she sticks with, “Because you’re my best friend and I don’t want to keep lying to you.”

And maybe it’s the sparkle in Lena’s eyes that speak of adoration and gratitude and the fact that she’s still so beautiful despite being red-nosed from crying that makes Kara want to just let it all out.

She steels herself, thinking that she could reveal all of her secrets in one day. She can. She will.

 _I see the way that Lena looks at you when you’re not looking back,_ Alex’s voice rings in the back of her mind and that fuels her even more. She’s going to say it. 

She’s about to open her mouth when the door swings open to reveal a very mortified Imra. Lena jumps back a few inches and Kara instantly misses her warmth.

“Oh! I’m so sorry! Susan didn’t tell me you were here Supergirl. I was just looking for Lena,” Imra says hurriedly. “I’ll just go.”

“I’ll see you in a bit, okay?” Lena tells her and Kara watches as Imra smiles at Lena and nods -and then there’s that heavy feeling in the pit of her stomach again. Her courage has faded and has been replaced by the fear of rejection. She’s just told Lena about her identity. She’s just gotten Lena, her best friend, back. She’s not going to lose that.

Imra closes the door behind her and Lena turns back to face Kara. “Were you going to say something else?”

Kara shakes her head, “No.”

-

Imra is standing by the banister of the DEO balcony, looking out on to the city, when Lena saunters towards her, a contagious smile plastered across her face.

Imra turns around at the sound of footsteps heading her way.

“You look happy,” she observes, tilting her head and donning a smile of her own.

“Kara just told me about her… about Supergirl.”

“She did?”

Lena excitedly nods and Imra catches her infectious grin. “I’m so happy to hear that, Lena. That only means that Kara truly wants you to be a part of her life.”

And Lena smiles, genuinely smiles, because now she gets a hundred percent of Kara’s honesty -no more lies, no more running off, no more excuses, no more alibis, and no more pretending that she doesn’t know who Kara is beneath her long sleeves and slacks.

She thinks about what Kara had said about her being Kara’s tether to humanity and a jolt of ecstasy courses through her. All this time she thought that Kara didn’t trust her enough -but she was wrong. She was and is Kara’s anchor and hearing that from Kara herself makes her think that maybe she has a chance after all.

“What’s wrong?” Lena asks when she notices the other woman’s smile transform into a look of pure dread. Her own smile falters and is replaced with concern.

“It’s nothing. It’s silly,” Imra exhales.

“No, I’m sure it’s not. Please, tell me.”

Imra, seeing the pleading look in Lena’s eyes, concedes. She sighs. “It’s just, now that Kara has told you about her secret, you won’t have to walk on eggshells anymore when you’re here -so you’re going to spend more time together and I mean, I know that she’s your best friend -,”

Lena smiles knowingly as she places a hand on Imra’s shoulder, effectively interrupting the other woman from her speech. “We’re still friends, Imra.”

“I know. I guess I’m just worried.”

“Worried? About what?”

Imra deflates, “Look, Kara is a wonderful person and I would completely understand it if people would choose her over me. You knew her first. Mon-El loved her first -,”

“No, stop that,” Lena firmly states, grasping Imra’s hands with both of hers. There’s a resolution in her eyes, one that she hopes would tell Imra that she sincerely means what she says next. “You’re my friend too, and I’m not the type of person who would leave someone behind or shun someone away. I’m sorry if you feel like your husband is choosing Kara over you, but I’m not like him. I would never do that to you, okay?”

Imra feels tears prickling on the side of her eyes. Without preamble, she grabs Lena’s shoulders and pulls her in, enfolding her in a fierce embrace. Her hands are wrapped around Lena’s neck and her head is buried on Lena’s shoulder.

Lena runs smooth circles on Imra’s back with one hand, the other one clutching Imra’s shoulder in a solid grip.

To them, it’s an act of reassurance. To someone else, it may seem like a very intimate moment between friends. But to Mon-El, it looks as if Lena is trying to steal his wife.

He stomps towards them with an ugly look on his face. He doesn’t clear his throat, doesn’t even think to ask what’s going on. He simply jumps into conclusion, ego bruised and masculinity damaged, and yanks Imra from Lena’s arms.

“How dare you?” he bellows for everyone to hear because of course he’d cause a scene. Imra is pushed aside, obviously taken aback by the fact that her husband had just manhandled her.

“Excuse me?” Lena icily replies. Her stand is firm, and her face is neutral even though there’s a storm brewing in her eyes.

“Oh, don’t act innocent Luthor!” He spats, “I’ve seen the way that you look at my wife!”

“Oh? And how do I look at your wife?”

Mon-El is about to add another jab when Imra stands in between him and Lena, a mixture of anger and hurt creasing her features.

“She looks at me like she cares about my feelings -which is more than I can say about you,” she spats and Mon-El is too stunned that he takes a step back.

Imra didn’t want to do this, didn’t want to cause a scene that would make the entire DEO privy of her feelings. But Mon-El is showing his true colors now, making accusations as if he knows the whole story. He’s back to being the jerk that he was when Imra first met him -or maybe he’s always been a jerk, he just hasn’t been showing that again until now.

Well she’s having none of it.

“You’ve been spending so much time with her and less with me so of course you’re on her side,” Mon-El cruelly chuckles.

“I’m on her side because she was on mine while you were too busy flirting with your ex-girlfriend and forgetting that you have a wife.”

There’s a loud gasp from somewhere inside the hall. Lena thinks it’s probably Winn.

“What? Imra -,”

“I don’t want to talk to you right now,” Imra firmly says, grabbing Lena’s wrist and dragging her into the main hall and out of the building, leaving Mon-El slack jawed and the entire office awkwardly quiet.

-

Lena tries her best to be calming but she isn’t quite sure if she’s doing it right. Imra’s face is buried on her shoulder, her body shaking with every sob and sharp inhale. It’s been fifteen minutes and Lena’s beginning to worry.

She moves a hand in smooth circles on Imra’s back, trying her best to be comforting.

They stay like that for a few more minutes until Imra finally wipes her tear stained cheeks with the back of her hand. She moves her head away from Lena’s shoulder and Lena takes that opportunity to stand up and grab a box of tissues and a glass of water from her kitchen.

“Thank you,” Imra sniffles when Lena returns to her side.

Lena stays silent as she watches Imra greedily drink from the glass, as she takes pieces of tissue to wipe at her face, as she sets the discarded items on the coffee table in front of them, as she sighs aloud before her lower lip begins to tremble again.

Imra looks up at her then, eyes glistening with unshed tears, and says, “I’m so sorry for what happened earlier.”

“What are you apologizing for?”

“For how Mon-El behaved. He shouldn’t have yelled at you like that. He shouldn’t have accused you -,”

“Hey,” Lena interrupts, “Stop that. You shouldn’t be apologizing on his behalf. And I’m okay. I’ve handled worse than him. But you, Imra -how are you feeling?”

Imra lowers her head, biting down on her lip to stop it from quivering. She whispers, “He shoved me, not caring if he would hurt me or not. He made me feel like it was my fault for spending too much time with you, when he doesn’t even know why I do. He implicitly accused us of something we aren’t doing when all this time I’ve just been seeking comfort because he’s been making me feel invisible.”

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry,” Lena says as she grabs Imra by the shoulders and wraps her in a firm embrace. “I shouldn’t have asked.”

Lena feels tears seeping through her blouse. She doesn’t mind.

“I thought he loved me,” Imra whispers and it breaks Lena’s heart to hear her become so small, so helpless. 

She continues rubbing Imra’s back and feels a small sense of victory when she senses Imra relaxing under her touch. She’s never comforted anyone before -not like this at least. In fact, she doesn’t remember anyone crying so freely in front of her. It’s her complete lack of friends, she thinks. But now she has those. She has friends -and she has one who feels secure enough around her to lower their guard and show her how vulnerable they can be. Her heart swells at the thought.

She pushes Imra gently away from her so she could look her in the eyes when she says, “Tell me what I can do to help. Please, anything,”

Imra wipes her eyes with the heel of her hand. She hesitates for a moment before she finally asks, “Will you let me stay here for a while?”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: re: saturncorp - i just had to lmao

It’s been three days since Imra and Mon-El fought at the DEO balcony -three days since Imra dragged Lena out of the building and didn’t come back.

She doesn’t answer anyone’s calls, doesn’t join missions, doesn’t even check in to let her friends know that she’s okay and Kara respects the fact that Imra doesn’t want to talk to anyone at the DEO (except for J’onn of course) but she’d overheard the whole of Imra and Mon-El’s argument and it’s been eating her up not having the chance to explain her side, to clarify that nothing is going on between her and Mon-El.

Okay, so maybe she’s a bit guilty about flirting with him but Kara swears that it only happened once. She doesn’t even know why she did it when she knows that he’s married and that as harmless as it may have seemed, it was still wrong. She thinks that maybe a sudden insanity had struck her at that time, something weird that made her act out of character -like a shitty writer took the pen from her life’s author and decided to write her as a bitch. Or maybe it was because she’s so desperately into Lena that Mon-El had become her object of displacement. Whatever the case, she knows that she needs to apologize to Imra.

 _Imra_. Kara sighs, remembering the look on the other woman’s face when she walked out of the DEO. She’ll never forget it, the fact that she caused someone so much pain because of her insensitivity. She’s not even going to blame it all on Mon-El -even though he started all of their banters. She entertained them, went along with them, and that in itself makes her just as accountable.

“I really screwed up,” Kara huffs before taking a sip of her soda.

She’s at the alien bar with her friends, blowing off steam from work and the very apparent tension in the DEO. Three days after and the encounter still looms over the agency.

Winn looks at her sadly, “Yeah you did.”

“Mmhmm,” James adds. “I mean, we saw how you and Mon-El exchanged googly eyes but we kept quiet. We should have said something though, made you snap out of your Mon-El tinted glasses.”

Kara scoffs, “I don’t like him anymore guys. I’ve moved on, I swear. I don’t know, I just haven’t been myself lately.”

“You really haven’t,” Winn agrees. “I mean, you and Imra used to be okay but now you act so stiffly around her, you know? Like you secretly hate her or something. I’m sure that added to her suspicions.”

Kara whips her head to face Winn. “What? I don’t secretly hate her!”

“You kind of act like you do.”

And then it hits her in the form of a black-haired CEO in a red blouse and a tight pencil skirt. She’s been acting so rigidly towards Imra these past few weeks because she’s jealous of her growing closeness with Lena! It has nothing to do with Mon-El! That’s the reason why she’s been acting differently towards the other woman!

“Earth to Kara,” Winn says as he waves his beer bottle in front of his friend, effectively bringing her out of her daze.

Kara suddenly stands up from her seat, “I have to go talk to Imra. I need to clear things out and apologize to her.”

And then she’s standing up and rushing out of the bar.

-

Lena is seated on the couch in her living room, flipping through papers that Imra knows are highly important work documents. She has her reading glasses on, and her hair is wound up in a messy bun. She’s wearing sweats and loose t-shirt and Imra thinks that Lena is probably one of the prettiest women she’s ever met.

Imra ambles towards Lena with a glass of wine in hand.

“You look like you need this,” Imra offers and Lena smiles when she looks up at her.

“You’re a life saver.” Lena takes the proffered glass and takes a delicate sip before setting it down on the coffee table.

It’s only been three days since Imra has moved in, but Lena thinks that Imra has her all figured out. Somehow, Imra knows when she needs cheering up or when she needs to be distracted from the stress induced work that she almost always brings home with her. Lena think that it’s because of Imra’s inherent perceptiveness.

Imra watches her friend carefully as she settles beside Lena on the couch. She watches her intently like she’s trying to decipher a code on Lena’s face.

Lena blushes under the scrutiny.  “What?”

“I’m just trying to figure out what I could do to get you to stop working. You know you’re allowed to relax, right?”

“I know.”

“Then you should.”

Lena hesitates for a few seconds before staring at the papers in her hand and thinks that she could put them off for a night. She works fast. She can finish them tomorrow in between meetings. Right now, she can indulge both Imra and herself by listening to her aching bones and actually taking a night off.

She stacks the papers neatly above the coffee table and exchanges it for the glass of wine. Imra grins broadly.

They start talking about each other, about their favorite hobbies, and Imra’s favorite thing about National City so far. They talk about Saturn and what childhood was like for Imra. Then they talk about music and movies, and Imra thinks that Lena is the most beautiful like this -wine-flushed and discussing everything she loves about the Star Wars franchise. Imra doesn’t understand of course. She hasn’t seen any of the films but seeing Lena talk about it so vivaciously makes her believe that it truly is the greatest set of films on Earth.

It’s refreshing, Lena thinks, that she could talk so freely about anything and everything to someone who isn’t Kara. For someone else to look at her without malice and judgment even as she bares her soul and her family’s dirty laundry. And it isn’t just because Imra isn’t from the planet and so she doesn’t fully comprehend the mess that Lex had made. No. It’s because Imra, perceptive and kind Imra, simply sees her for who she is and who she wants to be. It’s miraculous, Lena thinks. And for a while there she compares Imra to Kara. How they’re both these celestial beings, both strong and kind, hard and soft, and completely beautiful despite their burdens and brokenness. And then Lena stops -because as much as she adores Imra, there is only one Kara Danvers.

“Are you okay?” Imra asks, half-drunk and giggling.

“Yes,” Lena replies with a beam. She takes Imra’s hand and says, “Thank you for tonight. I needed this.”

“No, thank you,” Imra responds, “I needed this more. And thank you for being so kind to me, Lena. For never making me feel like I’m out of place.”

Lena smiles and looks away, feeling her heart heavy with happiness. Suddenly, she feels a shift on the couch, feels the other woman leaning into her, and in her haste and concern that Imra might have passed out, moves her head to Imra’s direction only to feel warm, soft lips graze upon her own.

Her eyes widen in shock. Imra jumps back.

“Lena, I didn’t mean to!” Imra hurriedly says, raising her hands up to cover her lips. “I am so sorry! I meant to kiss your cheek and then you moved your head -,”

“No, no. It’s okay, Imra. It was an accident,” Lena interrupts, trying her best to school her features even when her heart is hammering in her chest.

Imra doesn’t respond. Instead, she shuts her eyes tightly as the colors on her face begin to drain. Lena exhales, composing herself before gently touching the other woman’s arm.

“Hey. I promise it’s okay.”

Without opening her eyes, Imra breathes out, “Are you sure? I’m scared I’ve made things awkward between us.”

“No, I promise.”

And it’s true. It’s okay. She won’t be awkward about the fact that she and Imra kissed. It was accidental after all. But seeing Imra right now, frozen in place with her eyes shut close and terrified that she had ruined the only thing that she has left, Lena vows with absolute tenacity that she will always stick by the other woman, that she will always be her friend, and that she will never ever make her feel like she’s invisible or isolated -because Lena knows what that’s like, and she doesn’t want that for anyone else.

-

Kara takes the bus to Lena’s penthouse because it gives her more time to think about what she wants to say to Imra. She has it all planned out in her head. She’s going to own up to her mistakes, apologize to Imra, and clarify that she does not at all hate her. Of course, she won’t be able to tell the other woman that she’s jealous of her growing closeness to Lena but she’s going to at least make sure to explain that her behavior around her isn’t because she’s still in love with Mon-El.

Satisfied with the speech she has in her head, she knocks on the door, doing it twice before it opens.

“Kara? What are you doing here? It’s eleven in the evening,” Lena states when she opens the door and sees her best friend on the other side.

Kara takes one look at her and decides that Lena looking so adorably domestic is probably what dreams are made of. She shakes those thoughts away, however, and gets back on track.

“I know. But I was hoping that Imra might still be awake.”

“She’s already asleep but you can still come in if you’d like,” Lena offers and of course Kara takes it.

She walks in to Lena’s apartment and immediately notices the glasses and the empty bottle of wine on the coffee table. In the living room light, Kara can clearly make out Lena’s flushed face.

“I’m sorry. Let me just clean this up.”

Kara watches as Lena flits through the living room and into the kitchen, tidying up the spot where she and Imra had been drinking before she arrived. She feels a sudden twinge of jealousy, but she swallows it down. After all, she’s supposed to be feeling apologetic towards Imra, not antagonistic. Still, Kara cannot help but voice aloud, “Seems like you and Imra had a good time.”

She hears Lena’s exasperated sigh and instantly regrets saying anything.

“Look, Kara, if you’re siding with Mon-El then I think that you should leave.”

“What? No. I’m not siding with him. I, um, I actually came here to apologize to Imra.”

“But you just made it sound like you actually believe that something’s going on between the two of us,” Lena says. “Yes, we had a good time. We were drinking. That’s what friends do.”

Kara sighs as she plops down on the couch. Lena sits beside her, but she isn’t close enough and all Kara wants to do is pull her nearer.

“I know. I’m sorry. I just, I’m jealous okay? You’ve been spending so much time with her,” Kara sighs, praying that Lena understands the hidden meaning to it all.

“That doesn’t mean you’re not my best friend anymore,” Lena replies and Kara’s stomach sinks. Of course, Lena would read it as something platonic. “And it’s not like you haven’t been spending so much time with Mon-El.”

Kara visibly winces.

“Look Kara, Imra and I are just friends despite what her pig of a husband thinks. We’ve just been growing closer because she feels alone, because she feels like her husband is still in love with you. And to be honest, I see it too. I see how he looks at you and how he talks to you and how you respond to him. I know that you’re not doing anything to deliberately hurt Imra because I know, and I believe that you’re not that kind of person but what I believe in and what we see are two very different things.”

“I know. I messed up, Lena. But you have to believe me when I say that I don’t like Mon-El that way. I’m not hung up on him anymore and I respect Imra and their marriage,” Kara says, and she desperately wants Lena to believe that.

“I believe you Kara,” Lena says, taking Kara’s hand into her own and lacing their fingers together. “But you have to make Imra believe that too because as rushed as this may sound, Imra is beginning to mean a lot to me. I care about her. She’s my friend and I feel this protectiveness towards her that I cannot explain -and you, Kara, are one of the people who matter the most to me, so I hope that you and Imra can work things out because I care so deeply about the both of you.”

Kara is silent. She’s looking at Lena, focusing on the resolve in Lena’s eyes and feels jealousy grow and twist inside of her at the that way Lena talks about Imra. But then Lena’s eyes soften, and Kara’s does too, because as jealous as she feels, she wants Lena to be happy too. And although Kara had already promised herself that she’d mend fences with Imra, Lena’s sentiments towards it certainly gives her more motivation. Kara smiles, squeezing Lena’s hand and nodding in agreement. She’ll fix this because it’s the right thing to do. And if Imra is important to Lena, then Imra will be important for her too.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: okay, first of all, huge thanks to everyone who’s read, bookmarked, left a kudos, etc. etc. i didn’t think anyone would pay any mind to this fic but the response has been overwhelming so far. thank you so much! you guys are great and are huge motivators. 
> 
> second, many of you are beginning to ship saturncorp and that actually makes me so happy (since i ship them on the side as well lol) but once again kids, this story is going to end with supercorp. don’t fret tho, i still have a lot of saturncorp scenes up my sleeves. i hope they’ll be enough to quench your thirst lol but if they do not, then maybe another story might! i’m trying to write saturncorp oneshots so please if you have any prompts (that’ll fit a oneshot) then please comment me your suggestions. 
> 
> third and last, brace yourselves. this chapter is gon be a roller coaster.

Imra decides that it’s time to go back to work. It’s been a week and a half and although both Lena and her home are lovely, she misses all the action, misses kicking butts and saving the world. So when Lena tells her that she’s heading to the DEO, Imra tells her that she’s coming along.

Lena gives her a look that asks if she’s sure, if she’s ready to face Mon-el and possibly talk about what had happened. She merely smiles. She isn’t sure if she is, but she’s brave. She can handle it. She can handle him.

“But you’re still staying here, right?” Lena clarifies and Imra chuckles.

“Yes. If that’s alright with you.”

“Of course,” Lena replies but doesn’t tell the other woman that she’s relieved to hear it, that she would be quite devastated if she would decide to leave the penthouse and return to the DEO quarters. Lena would completely understand of course, but she’s gotten used to having Imra around. And besides, she prefers coming home to Imra shyly shuffling around her living room than coming home to an eerily quiet apartment.

Imra gives her a little smile before they head downstairs to where Lena’s driver is waiting for them.

They arrive at the DEO in less than half an hour, earning cautious stares from every employee as they tread towards the main hall. Winn sees them first, and he stands up almost instantly at the sight of Imra.

“Hi, Lena, Imra. Glad that you’re back,” he says in an awkward but sincere tone.

“Glad to be back,” Imra replies. “Anything I could help with today?”

Winn sits back down and checks his computer before saying, “Nope. All clear as of now. But Alex has been looking for a sparring partner.”

Alex appears at the mention of her name, casually ambling towards Imra and Lena. She gives the two women a nod.

“Are you up for it?”

Imra smiles in response. She turns to Lena and asks, “Do you want to watch?”

Of course she does.

The trio head towards one of the training rooms. Lena looks around. She hasn’t been in here before. She takes in the mat-clad floors and is about to ask what the foams on the walls are for but then she remembers how extensive the training for the DEO agents can be. She guesses that people get thrown a lot around here so she’s quite impressed that the room doesn’t reek of sweat at all. In fact, it smells like laundry detergent and a bit of fabric conditioner. Maybe J’onn likes his rooms smelling like freshly cleaned clothes?

Lena takes a seat on one of the benches on the side of the room and watches as both Alex and Imra prepare for their sparring.

“I’ll take it easy on you since you haven’t been keeping in shape,” Alex teases with a smirk. Imra returns it with a raised eyebrow.

“You do realize that I’m an alien, right?”

“Touché,”

And then they’re off.

Imra lunges first, but Alex ducks and twists away just as Imra releases the arm she’s retracted for a punch. Alex takes advantage of the opening and comes for the other woman with a series of quick blows. Imra blocks them, feeling her bones reverberate on impact. She sees Alex grin.

“Don’t get cocky, Danvers,” she huffs before dropping and twisting, kicking out at Alex’s ankles. Alex jumps back, light on her feet.

“Oh you know I’m never,” Alex smirks.

She pounces and feints a punch but Imra senses the lack of intent and takes this lead to elbow Alex on the face, hitting her squarely on the jaw.

Alex stumbles back, Imra springs at her, and Lena stares at the both of them wide-eyed and thoroughly impressed.

She watches as one of them launches sequences of punches and kicks while the other blocks and skips and twists away. Push and pull. Give and take. Both end up landing hits on the other.

The match ends in a fair draw -but Alex’s face is bruised and Imra can’t help but laugh when Alex grazes her fingertips on her face and winces. 

“I’m gonna get you back for this Ardeen,” Alex says without a hint of intent.

“You already bruised my rib.”

“Yeah but you heal faster than I do,” the older Danvers huffs. “So, Lena, what did you think?”

Lena glances at both Alex and Imra. She gulps and then responds with absolute resolution.

“I think I want you to teach me how to do that.”

-

Kara finds her sister in one of the training rooms with a bruised face, demonstrating a rather simple jab and hook technique to… wait, is that Lena?

She clears her throat to get the women’s attention and finds three heads turn to her direction. Only then did she notice Imra on the side of the room. The woman ducks her head, clearly unable to meet Kara’s eye.

“I’m sorry. Um, what’s happening here?”

“Lena wants to be trained,” Alex casually replies. She’s looking rather smug. Of course she is, Kara thinks, if Lena wants to be trained by her.

“Oh. Okay. Just, um, don’t be too hard on her. I mean, she’s not an official agent and I don’t think J’onn would appreciate it if we mauled our tech consultant and -,”

“Relax, Kara. I know what I’m doing,” Alex chuckles.

Kara squeaks, “Right, of course.” She turns to Lena, gives her a little wave and says, “Take it easy.”

Lena blushes and Alex resists the urge to yell “GAY” at the both of them. She turns to Kara instead, widens her eyes and nods her head towards Imra’s direction.

Kara gets the signal, clears her throat again and says, “Imra? Could I talk to you outside?”

Imra raises her head, “Of course.”

Imra follows Kara outside of the training room and onto the balcony -right where Imra and Mon-El had their little spat. She braces herself on the banister and looks out onto the city, distracting herself for a while before she hears Kara give out a long and weary sigh.

She’s been waiting for this for a while now, for an apology that she thinks she deserves. She knows that she doesn’t hate Kara even though she also knows that a part of her reciprocates Mon-El’s advances. She’s just hurt, that’s all -and overwhelmingly disappointed because she idolizes Kara. 

“Imra,” Kara starts and Imra turns to face her. She wants to look into the other woman’s eyes when she says her piece. “I am so so sorry for all the hurt that I’ve caused you. But if Mon-El still has unsettled feelings for me, I hope you know that I don’t return them.”

Imra’s brows furrow. “You don’t?”

“No, I swear to Rao that I don’t. But -but I still entertained them. I went along with them without even considering how you would feel and, Imra, I will never forgive myself for that. I hurt you. I severed a relationship even if it wasn’t my intention and that’s unforgivable. I know that it is. But I still want to apologize -even if you won’t find it in your heart to forgive me.”

But of course Imra would. Of course Imra does -because Kara didn’t mean it and she can see how terrible Kara feels about all of this, how apologetic she genuinely is even if her previous actions weren’t done deliberately. Still, Imra finds that she needs to ask one thing first.

“So you weren’t planning on stealing my husband?” There’s a bite to her voice that makes Kara flinch and stammer her response.

“No, I swear. I never intended that. I mean I don’t even like him anymore. I like someone else and I,” Kara stops herself at the realization that she’s said too much. She clears her throat. “No. Never.”

Imra’s brows are raised. Interesting -but she doesn’t show how interested she truly is. She focuses on Kara’s apology instead, softening her features before she places a reassuring hand on Kara’s shoulder.

“Thank you for apologizing Kara. It means a lot to me that you did. I mean I might have believed that you were out to get him, but I see now that that wasn’t your intention. I guess I was just overwhelmed with how closely you interact and with the way that he looks at you that it made me think that I was losing him to you, but I mean I couldn’t blame him what with your history.”

“Oh no, Imra, no. Nothing like that was ever going to happen. I’m so sorry if I made you think that.”

“And I apologize if I dragged your name in the mud when Mon-El and I fought. It was never my intention to cause a scene but Mon-El was provoking me and I couldn’t help myself. He was going after Lena.”

Kara twitches at the mention of Lena’s name but Imra doesn’t notice. And then there’s that simmering jealousy again. She clenches her fists and swallows it back. Now’s not that time.

She dons a smile instead. “It’s okay. I understand.”

Imra returns it.

“So… we’re okay?”

“Yes. We are.”

-

Mon-El waits for Kara and Imra to finish talking. He doesn’t eavesdrop, merely watches them from a corner knowing full well that they’re trying to make amends.

His heart sinks for a moment. It’s all his fault, he knows that. _I’m on her side because she was on mine while you were too busy flirting with your ex-girlfriend and forgetting that you have a wife._

He bows his head. He’s going to make it right.

When he looks up, he realizes that Kara is gone and Imra is looking at her.

 “Hi,” he says as he walks gingerly towards Imra.

His voice is uncharacteristically small and he’s donning that hangdog expression that he does whenever he’s done something entirely irksome. Imra realizes the whole thing as his way of trying to apologize. She gives him a chance.

“Hi,” she breathes. She looks down. She isn’t prepared to have this conversation. She’s still hurt, but if Mon-El is trying then maybe she could try too.

“I’m sorry. For everything. For making you feel forgotten. I didn’t mean to, Imra. I promise,” Mon-El says and Imra sees the sincerity in his eyes. It makes her want to forgive him. She does want to forgive him -but she has to ask one thing first.

“But do you still have feelings for Kara?”

“I -,”

And there it is -the inevitable truth in the way that he looks everywhere but into Imra’s eyes and then looks down and sighs. She should have known, really. She should have seen it coming.

“I’m sorry,” he says again but in a gentler and calmer tone, as if it would lessen the blow of what he’s really saying.

Imra’s shoulders sag. She wants to cry. She wants to punch a wall. She wants to punch his face. She wants to go home. But she doesn’t do any of those. She straightens her back and lifts her chin instead, all the sadness dissipating and transforming into pure rage.

Still, she manages to stay calm when she spits, “You should have told me. It would have been painful, but it would have been less excruciating than seeing you fawn all over Kara like my feelings didn’t matter at all to you. Did you ever even love me?”

“Of course I did Imra. I do. I love you.”

“But you love her too? And you love her more.”

Mon-El lets out a long sigh. “I’m sorry.”

Imra lets out a sardonic chuckle. “And you had the audacity to _accuse_ me and Lena of having an affair when you’re the one who’s cheating on me.”

Mon-El snaps his eyes back to Imra’s face. “I’m sorry about what happened but you have to believe me when I say that it was because I was jealous. I know that what I did was rude and uncalled for and I will apologize to Lena after this -but please, please believe me when I say that it was only because I thought that I was losing my wife. You spend so much time with her, Imra, when just a month ago you weren’t even acquaintances. I just -I didn’t think.”

And Imra sees the genuine glint in his eyes again, hears the frank tone in his voice and it just makes Imra want to slap him across the face. Yes, maybe if the circumstances were different she would have been touched by the fact that her husband fears losing her -but the fact is that she cannot and will not have Mon-El keeping her when he also wants someone else. Polyamory is something that she wholeheartedly respects, but it isn’t for her.

“No. You didn’t think at all. You got jealous? Well that was how I felt every time I saw you and Kara,” she sighs, deflating. She’s calmer when she says, “You can’t just see me when you’re feeling threatened Mon-El. It can’t work like that. You’re married to me. I deserve your full attention.”

“You do.”

“I do. But your attention is clearly divided right now -and you’ve made it clear who has the greater half.”

She feels like she’s rushing things but it’s clear in her mind what she deserves and what she doesn’t, what she can endure and what she absolutely cannot tolerate. Imra will not let herself be a second option when she’s supposed to be his one and only.

“I forgive you Mon-El. Thank you for apologizing -but you have to settle your emotions without dragging me on like this.” She takes a step forward and kisses his cheek. “I love you, you know that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: hi. y’all can send me prompts or say hi or just yell at me on twitter @ katiemctrash -i don’t tweet a lot but when i’m online you can expect a lot of katie, cate blanchett, hayley kiyoko, and other generally girls loving girls content. thanks bbs


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A/N: here have a sprinkle of saturncorp fluff

Lena strokes Imra’s head that night, threading through silken hair, lightly scratching at her scalp.

They’re watching a movie in Lena’s living room, but it’s clear that Imra has her mind on other things.

Imra had told her about what had happened earlier on when Mon-El apologized to her. She’d broken down afterwards, sobbing silently but with such power that her whole body wracked within Lena’s firm grasp.

“I had to let him go,” Imra had said. “I can’t keep someone who doesn’t love me with all of his heart.”

And Lena had held her, coaxed her into eating something, and managed to distract her grief with a movie -except now she thinks that Imra is distracted from the movie and not the other way around. She’s obviously still ruminating over the events that had happened earlier, and Lena can’t blame her. It was a big decision, a painful one -to let someone so, someone she’s loved for such a long time. Lena thinks that she can relate.

“Maybe I should have given him another chance,” Imra mumbles. Lena can’t see her face from her seated position while Imra is lying on the couch with her head on Lena’s lap, but Lena knows that Imra is on the verge of tears. “Maybe I should have been more patient. I’m his wife. I should have stuck by him.”

Lena doesn’t know what to say. For the first time in her life she’s at a complete loss for words, so she just stays quiet and focuses on listening to the other woman instead.

“Our marriage might have been arranged but I still made him a promise.”

Imra gently rises from her position. She turns, and Lena finally sees how exhausted she looks. Imra’s eyes are red and puffy. Her cheeks are tear-stained, and her lips are swollen and trembling -and Lena hates to see her friend like this.

She takes the box of tissue sitting on her coffee table and hands it to the other woman.

“Do you think I made a mistake?”

Lena sighs, “I can’t tell you that Imra. But if your actions were based on what you know you deserve then I think that you didn’t.”

Imra keeps her head low as she takes in Lena’s response. She lets it convince her, lets it wash over her to assuage the stinging pain in her chest. It was for her. She deserves better. She deserves better. She deserves better.

She says it again a few more times until she feels her breathing even. And then she raises her head to find Lena studying her.

“What is it?”

Lena tries a small smile, extends her hand and rests it on top of Imra’s knee. “You should rest.”

-And Imra deflates then, finally feeling how tired she actually is. Her muscles ache, her chest hurts, and her head is throbbing. Lena is right. She should rest. Maybe sleep will make her feel better.

Or at least she hopes that it will.

-

It’s almost one in the morning when Lena finally yawns.

She’s been checking and rechecking her e-mails, perusing through a few blueprints, and going over documents she’s brought home from work for the last three hours -right after Imra had gone off to bed.

She’s tired, but then again she always is. She’s the CEO of two multibillion companies after all. On top of that, she’s also a tech consultant for a government agency that technically doesn’t exist. Add the fact that she doesn’t know where her villainous mother is, and Lena thinks that someone else who’d be in her position would lose their mind. In fact, she would have if it weren’t for her upbringing. The Luthor household might have scarred her childhood but she’s grateful for the fact that she had been raised as steely as Kara’s skin.

Kara’s skin, the thought reverberates in her mind and then all at once her thoughts are flooded with bright smiles and golden hair and ocean blue eyes. She sighs. Her stress won’t be the death of her, but Kara Danvers certainly might.

She sighs again and shakes the thought away, refusing to think of Kara tonight.

She stands up from her dining area, stacks her documents in a neat pile, shuts off her laptop, and ambles towards her bedroom.

She changes into her sleepwear, brushes her teeth, and then pads over to her bed. She groans when her back finally hits the mattress.

She’s about to turn off her night light when she hears a gentle knock on her door. “Lena?”

She sits up. “Come in,” she says, loud enough for the person on the other side of the door to hear.

The door sways open and Imra pokes in her head. Lena sees the sad exhaustion painted all over Imra’s face even in the dark.

“I’m sorry. Were you going to sleep?”

“I was. But if you need someone to talk to then I’m here.” Lena, sensing Imra’s hesitation, repeats, “Come in.”

Imra opens the bedroom door a bit wider. She enters the room, slowly closing the door before turning around to face Lena. She’s quiet and her head is bent down but Lena knows that something is on her mind, knows that she wants to ask something but she’s not sure if she should. Lena knows that look. She knows what it feels like.

“You can sleep here if you want to,” Lena offers, parroting the exact words Lex used to tell her when she had entered his room all those years ago -when she had just been adopted and everything about the Luthor mansion scared her. It made her feel safe then, and right now that’s all she wants for Imra.

Imra looks up at her. “Are you sure?”

“Yes,” Lena firmly says as she pats the space on the bed beside her.

Imra pauses, seeming reluctant so Lena smiles encouragingly until Imra shyly shuffles towards her. She feels the mattress dip as Imra takes the space beside her.

Lena turns the light off.

She’s lying on her back when she hears the other woman whisper, “Good night Lena.”

“Good night Imra,” Lena replies.

And for the first time in weeks, Lena doesn’t see Kara when she closes her eyes.

-

Lena wakes up ten minutes before her alarm is supposed to ring -as she always does. It’s become a habit, a part of her usual morning.

What’s unusual is the fact that Lena feels a warm body holding on to her -arms draped across her waist, a head tucked under her armpit and squished onto her side, and strands and strands of hair tickling her neck.

She blinks her eyes as rapidly as she could, trying to remember last night’s events. And then she remembers. Imra.

Imra who is sleeping so peacefully beside her.

She hates that she has to move, hates that she might wake the other woman up when rest is what she needs after having such a terrible night -but Lena has to get up.

She takes Imra’s arm and gingerly sets it aside, stealthily slipping out of the covers without making a sound.

She stands beside the bed and steals a glimpse of her friend -and then she sees her, really sees her.

Perfectly manicured brows, long lashes, curved nose, full rose-petaled lips, high cheekbones, sharp jawline, every detail of Imra’s face and Lena thinks _wow._ Imra is breathtaking.

“I can feel you staring, you know,” Imra suddenly says so clearly that Lena yelps and hits her hip on the side table, the lamp rattling because of the force.

“I-I’m so sorry,” Lena honest to god stutters, thoroughly embarrassed.

“It’s okay,” Imra chuckles. She hasn’t opened her eyes yet and for that Lena is thankful. She doesn’t think her dignity can handle it if Imra sees just how flushed she is.

“Right,” Lena clears her throat, trying to sound composed. “I’m going to shower.”

She pads towards the bathroom before the ground can swallow her whole in embarrassment. And then right before she crosses the threshold towards the other room, Imra says, “Thank you for letting me stay here with you.”

Lena looks back, feeling the electricity coursing through her from the ground up to her eyes when her gaze connects with Imra.

She doesn’t say anything because she doesn’t think anything would come out of her mouth, so she smiles instead, holds their gazes a moment longer before finally entering the bathroom.

 _What the hell_ is the very first thing that she mutters under her breath when she’s facing the silver lined mirror on her bathroom wall.  She doesn’t know what happened, doesn’t understand why her heart is thundering in her rib cage so terrifyingly loudly that she’s scared Imra would hear.

“Calm down,” she wills herself, feeling relieved when her breathing finally evens.

She supposes it’s because of the sheer shame at being caught staring and not because of anything else. Of course not.

She tells herself that the entire time she showers.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: here have a dab of agentreign and a bucket of lena rejecting james because it needs to be done lol also, s/o to DC for pointing out that martians can't read a kryptonian's mind but hey, let's just pretend that they can, okay? okay.

Things have gone back to normal after a week -well, as normal as they could get for everyone.

Imra still lives with Lena, but she goes to the DEO daily now. She and Mon-El have had another talk and have decided that it would be better if they stayed civil -not just for the sake of the entire team but to save their friendship as well.

Lena has gotten her schedule better kept. With Sam still recuperating, Lena spends more time in L-Corp. She trusts James to run CatCo while she’s busy, although she still visits the building to check on the company’s progress herself.

She has her days with the DEO as well. She’s called in once or twice a week to help with the agency’s technologies. On those days, she goes home with Imra.

The agents have gotten used to it by now. Lena bringing her L-Corp or CatCo duties with her to the DEO because she insists on getting work done while she waits for Imra. And of course she waits for Imra to finish training or complete a mission because she doesn’t want her driver to have to go back and forth -and more importantly, she doesn’t want to walk a block away alone because she can’t be picked up in front of the headquarters. (Also, staying at the DEO means being able to see Kara as Supergirl -all muscled arms and toned legs and rippling abs underneath that suit and -)

Imra, on the other hand, pleads Lena to go home without her because she can walk or take the bus since she’s gotten better at riding public transportation.

“It’s okay, Imra. I’ll wait,” Lena always says and Imra doesn’t debate (because she knows that Lena keeps checking Kara out).

And while they faux-argue, Kara stands relatively far away with Alex beside her, reeling in her feelings although she’s obviously seething with jealousy -which, of course, has been Kara’s new normal ever since Imra and Lena became friends.

“Ugh,” Kara groans and Alex rolls her eyes.

“I thought you were trying not to be jealous anymore?”

“I’m doing my best,” Kara says through gritted teeth and Alex resists the urge to laugh.

She teases, “You should be a saint for your martyrdom.”

“Tease me one more time and I’ll tell Sam that you think that she’s pretty,” Kara warns, and Alex’s eyes widen.

“You wouldn’t.”

“I would if you keep bullying me,” Kara crosses her arms petulantly.

“Fine then I’ll tell Lena that you have this massive schoolgirl crush on her.”

“Alex,” Kara whines and J’onn laughs from behind them.

“My best agents are five-year old children,” he chuckles as he stands in between Alex and Kara and puts an arm around their shoulders. “But -I do agree with Alex.”

Both women whip their heads to look at J’onn. He looks at Alex first and then he turns his attention to Kara.

“You’ll never know what’s down below if you don’t jump,” he says. “I know that you’re scared but isn’t taking the risk better than suffering in silence?”

Kara’s eyes widen, “Hey! Reading someone else’s mind without permission is intrusive!”

“Trust me -I try not to listen to you, but your thoughts on Miss Luthor’s brilliance and beauty are too loud for me to tune out.”

J’onn smirks, Alex snorts and Kara has the decency to look sheepish.

She stares back at Lena who is laughing at something Imra had whispered to her. She sighs. She is the last daughter of Krypton, girl of steel, stronger than anyone and anything on this Earth -and yet she cannot find the courage to tell one woman how she truly feels.

Alex, sensing her sister’s despondency, offers, “You’ll get there Kar. You will.”

“I hope so.”

“You will,” J’onn says more resolutely that Kara finds herself instantly convinced. She beams at J’onn, thankful for the care that he has for her and her older sister.

“Thank you.”

-

James is brushing off imaginary lint from his shirt when Lena walks into his office, Eve following close behind.

“I want the copies on my desk at L-Corp tomorrow. Oh, and please make an announcement that I will be needing two photographers and two fashion journalists for Donatella’s show.”

Eve visibly gulps, “The one that she’s holding in Milan five months from now?”

“Yes. I’ve already secured their passes. Now all I need is an actual team.” She turns towards James who, all this time, has been looking at her with such reverence. “Everyone in the building will be given the opportunity to join this team, so we will be accepting portfolios beginning tomorrow. I’ll have you and Eve choose from the candidates, yes?”

James nods.

“Good.” Lena turns back to Eve. “The both of you will show me the portfolios of the candidates that you’ve chosen, and then you’ll need to explain to me why you’ve chosen them. I expect you to make your decision based on aesthetics and work ethics, okay? Please do so objectively.”

Eve nods vigorously. She waits for Lena’s additional instructions before taking her leave.

James ambles towards Lena then. He seems to be steeling himself for something, and Lena resists the urge to sigh aloud. She knows what’s coming. She’s known it for quite some time now. But clearly, she didn’t realize that this was the reason for James requesting her presence in his office.

Still, she decides to give James the benefit of the doubt. He might say something else entirely after all.

“Lena,” he starts, “I’ve been wanting to tell you this for quite some time now.”

There’s a determination in his features that sets Lena’s alarms off so it’s obvious now that he isn’t going to say something else, but Lena lets him continue anyway.

James takes a deep breath, filling himself with courage. He knows that asking for Lena’s presence in his office to confess his feelings is unprofessional, but he can’t hold it in any longer.

“I like you Lena. You’re intelligent, and beautiful, and brave. And I know that I may have judged you unfairly when we first met but I was wrong. I’m sorry. I see now that you aren’t like your brother or your mother. You’re kind, and you’re generous. And I- I like you.”

Lena looks down. James sounds so sincere. It’s a shame that she has to turn him down.

James senses Lena’s trepidation and steps back. Lena looks up then. She rests a hand on his forearm.

“Thank you, James. I appreciate your apology and I am flattered by your admiration -but I don’t return the sentiment. I’m sorry,” she says, trying her hardest to sound sympathetic, wincing when it comes out business-like.

James is a good man and Lena likes him -as a friend. He is loyal and overprotective, which explains his initial demeanor towards Lena. He is kind and caring and Lena might have opened herself up to him if she wasn’t already head over heels in love with one Kara Danvers. But she is.

“I hope this doesn’t affect our friendship,” Lena says.

If James is hurt, he doesn’t show it. He smiles when he says, “No, of course not.”

“Good.”

“Can I ask one thing though?”

Lena nods. “Of course.”

“Is it because you have eyes for someone else?” He grins and Lena chuckles at his boyish charm. She knows that he isn’t looking for a reason to tend to his wounded ego. He’s simply curious. “You don’t have to answer it if it makes you uncomfortable,” he adds, ever the gentleman.

“It’s fine James. I know you’re just being a bully,” Lena smirks. “And yes. I do like someone else.”

James is about to tease her when the glass doors open to reveal Imra with a brown bag.

“I brought you lunch,” Imra announces and James sees the way that Lena’s face brightens at Imra’s arrival. He looks at Lena and then at Imra, and thinks he has the pieces together.

-

Kara is at the alien bar with Winn, James, and Alex that night, intent on unwinding after such a long and tiring day. Mon-El is behind the counter, helping out M’gann with mixing drinks. They talk about work amongst other things until Winn is tipsy enough to challenge Alex to a pool match. Alex, of course, agrees, knowing that she’ll win. The pair finish their beers before heading off to the pool table, leaving James and Kara behind.

“So,” James starts, “I talked to Lena when she was at the building this afternoon.”

Kara purses her lips in understanding. There’s a look on James’ face, one that she understands the meaning of.

James shakes his head as he toys with his bottle. “I should have known that I didn’t have a chance,” he chuckles, and Kara releases a breath that she didn’t know she was holding. “She’s completely out of my league,” he says without a hint of bitterness in his voice, and Kara can see that James is happy that he at least tried.

“She’s out of everybody’s league I think,” Kara mutters before taking a swig of her beer. James whips his head to look at her.

He has another look on his face, one that Kara knows too. She suddenly feels warm.

“What?”

“Oh, come on Kara. You think I don’t know?” James smirks.

“Know what?”

“You like Lena too,” he states, and Kara tries her hardest not to choke.

“W-what?”

“Hey,” he appeases, “It’s okay. I’ve known for quite some time now. You’re a little obvious, you know? I mean, you look at her the way you used to look at me,” he grins teasingly.

Kara’s jaw drops a bit, completely mortified that apparently her feelings for Lena are a _little obvious_ -but then again, Kara’s never been good at subtlety. She only wishes that Lena hasn’t caught on yet.

“Are you angry?” Kara suddenly asks.

James’ brows furrow in confusion, “Why would I be angry?”

“Because I like her too and I didn’t tell you.”

“Of course not. They’re your feelings. If you didn’t want to share them then that’s your choice. And I mean Lena is great so of course a lot of people would like her.”

Kara nods in agreement. Lena _is_ great, if not the greatest -which she is in Kara’s opinion. She’s beautiful, and highly intelligent, and generous, and brave, and kind, and passionate. She fights for what she believes in even if that means putting herself in danger. And she tries, god does she try her hardest to be good, to be unlike her family that it breaks Kara’s heart when people still paint her with the same colors that they use on Lex.

“I just thought that I should tell you now since she likes someone else. You know, save you from the heartbreak,” James suddenly adds, bringing Kara out of her reverie.

“What?” Kara asks but James doesn’t hear her.

“She’s one lucky girl.”

“Wait. Who is?”

“Imra,” James casually replies.

Imra? Kara knits her brows, clearly lost. “Why is Imra lucky?”

“Because Lena likes her.”

This time Kara chokes. “What? James -how do you know that? Did Lena say that?”

James is looking at her incredulously, like he can’t believe that she doesn’t know. Doesn’t Lena tell Kara everything?

“Well she didn’t say that exactly. But she said that she likes someone else and then Imra showed up with lunch. You should have seen the way that Lena’s face lit up -like New Year’s in New York,” James says, grinning at the memory. “She doesn’t smile like that with anyone.”

“She smiles like that with me,” Kara says a little too defensively.

“I know, but you guys are best friends. Imra, on the other hand, is someone she’s just met. A connection that came as easily as that is something else,” James says, convinced. He doesn’t know that his conviction is swaying Kara as well.

And Kara, overcome with jealousy, doesn’t realize that her grip on her beer bottle is too tight -not until she hears it crack.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: so are you on team supercorp, saturncorp, or supersaturncorp?


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: and the roller coaster ride continues...

It’s been ten minutes, but Kara hasn’t finished her stack of pizzas yet. She’s been taking little bites and chewing them slowly when she usually just folds them into sandwiches to try to fit them whole in her mouth. It’s disconcerting, and the fact that she’s uncharacteristically silent and that she hasn’t blinked in more than five minutes does it for Alex.

She sets her plate down, dusts her hands on her jeans, and then snaps her fingers in front of her younger sister.

“Earth to Kara,” she says aloud.

That does the trick. Kara shakes her head and focuses on Alex’ worried eyes. “What?”

“What do you mean what? You’ve been acting weird for days now. I didn’t want to push you, but even sisters’ night can’t cheer you up.” Kara sighs at that. Alex is right. It’s her night with her sister and she should be happy but all she can think of is Lena, and that’s unfair. She should let it out. If anyone can tell her what she needs to hear, it’s Alex.

“It’s Lena.”

Of course it is, Alex thinks. She doesn’t say anything though, just waits for Kara to continue sharing her woes.

“James thinks that Lena likes Imra,” Kara pouts.

“And?”

“I don’t know. Lena has never mentioned anything, and Lena _always_ tells me everything. We’re best friends.”

“But you’re still jealous?”

Kara’s shoulders sag, “Yes, but also just sad. I mean, what if it’s true? I haven’t even told her how I feel yet.”

Alex brushes a strand of hair away from Kara’s face. “So why don’t you just do that?”

“Because I’m scared. Not of rejection, though. I can handle it if Lena doesn’t feel the same way about me. I’m just -I’m terrified that things might change between us. I can’t lose my best friend Alex.”

Alex gives her a sympathetic smile, but her voice is firm when she says, “You won’t lose her, Kar. You’re her best friend too. And if there’s one thing that I highly admire about Lena, it’s her loyalty. She’s not the type of person who pushes people away. Whatever she feels about how you feel, it won’t change the fact that your bond is strong.”

Kara smiles reluctantly.

“If she feels the same way about you then I’ll give her the shovel talk,” Alex adds, and Kara laughs a bit at that part. “If she doesn’t then that’s okay too. I know that it’ll make your friendship stronger. Just like yours and James’.”

That does it for Kara. Alex is right. Whatever happens, whether Lena feels the same way about her or not, she’s never going to stop caring about her. And she knows that Lena won’t stop caring about her too. They’ve gone through so much together. Things won’t change. But –

“Alex? It’s not bad that I’m going to tell Lena how I feel after James had told me about Lena and Imra, right? I mean, I don’t want it to seem like I’m only telling her because of that,” Kara asks and Alex smiles, forever endeared by her little sister.

“Of course not Kara. You don’t see it as a competition, do you?”

 “No.”

“Then why do you want to tell her?”

Kara’s face brightens almost instantly, “Because Lena needs to know that someone thinks that she deserves that kind of love -and that someone wants to give her that whether she thinks she deserves it or not.”

Alex’ face softens then. Kara had never been that verbal about romantic love before. With James it was more of a massive crush that simply faded away in time, and with Mon-El? Alex still blames herself for talking to Kara about giving that douchebag a chance. Mon-El might be slightly better now, but then he was a bag of bricks weighing Kara down, and Kara had been too in the notion that she could have it all that she chose to think that she loved him. But Alex knew then that Mon-El wasn’t right for her sister. Someone who truly loves Kara would love her as Kara Danvers, as Supergirl, and as Kara Zor-El, would respect her wishes, would trust her strength, would understand her obligations, would see her as the yellow sun and not some dreadful Kryptonite, and most importantly, would see her as an equal rather than see her as a mere love interest in her own story.

And when Alex thinks of Lena, she knows that she could be it, that she could be the one that her sister deserves, and maybe that’s why she’s been a little pushy, why deep down she hopes that Lena feels the same way because Lena deserves Kara too. But if she doesn’t, then Alex would be there for her sister, like she always has been.

-

No more dillydallying.

Kara is going to tell Lena how she feels and no one and nothing can stop her. She knows that it’s time, knows that waiting would only make her feelings grow more uncontrollably and Kara doesn’t want that. She doesn’t want it to drown her to the point of blurting it out loud just to give herself reprieve, and neither does she want to continue suffering in silence. J’onn was right. Lena is more than worth the risk. And after her talk with Alex the night before, she’s certain that telling Lena is something that she should have done a long time ago.

She walks confidently through the halls of L-Corp, chin raised, and chest puffed. Her sunny smile is in place and her eyes are gleaming with utter determination. Today, she is Kara Danvers and Supergirl and Kara Zor-El all at once. There are no roles to play. But that’s always how she is with Lena. And now, she is the combination of all of her parts, ready to profess that all of her is in love with all of Lena Kieran Luthor.

She’s ready.

With Jess’ smile as permission, Kara opens the door to Lena’s office.

Lena is sitting on her chair behind her work desk. She’s wearing a red blouse, a black blazer, and a matching black pencil skirt. Her hair is down, and the light from the floor to ceiling glass window behind her is giving her a soft halo. Kara thinks that she looks as radiant as the first day she saw her, and then it clicks. Lena _is_ wearing the exact same ensemble she did when Kara first met her, and Kara thinks that it might be a good sign.

“Kara,” Lena says, smiling that smile of hers that weakens Kara’s knees.

“Hey.”

“Are you my eleven o’clock?”

“Yeah,” Kara answers sheepishly. “I’m sorry. I know you have a lot of more important things to do but I just thought that if I booked an hour of your time then you won’t have any other choice than to eat lunch with me.”

Lena’s heart blooms, and if she wasn’t completely endeared by Kara before then she definitely is now. “You know that you don’t have to do that. I’d gladly shift my schedule around for you.” And it’s true. Lena would do that for Kara.

Kara blushes. Lena stands up from her chair and ushers Kara to the couch.

“So to what do I owe the pleasure?” Lena asks as Kara sets the bags of take-out on the coffee table.

Kara sits a few inches away from Lena. She turns to face her fully when she clears her throat and says, “I actually came here because I wanted to, um, tell you something. It’s, well, it’s, um, important. It’s something that I didn’t want to do over the phone.”

“Oh? What is it about?”

Kara bites her lower lip, “Maybe we should eat first?”

Just because she’s going to say it now doesn’t mean she’s not scared anymore. She just needs a few minutes that’s all.

Lena slowly nods her head when she sees Kara’s reluctance. They eat in companionable silence for a few minutes until the tension that Lena feels becomes unbearable.

“You can tell me anything. You know that right, Kara? But if it’s as bad as I think it is then maybe you shouldn’t -,”

“No,” Kara interrupts, “no, I’m sorry. I’m going to tell you today. Now.” Kara gently sets her box of chow mien down the coffee table and Lena does the same, bracing herself for what’s going to come out of Kara’s mouth.

Lena feels terrified. She’s sure that it’s going to be news about her mother -that her mother had been discovered plotting against her again, or that she’s hired someone to assassinate her and that she needs to be taken into the DEO for her own protection. Or worse! That Lillian had somehow managed to find another Corben to inject her ghastly kryptonite concoctions with which means that Kara is unsafe and –

“Um? Lena? Please say something,” Kara says, and Lena comes out of her reverie. There’s an anxious look in Kara’s eyes and Lena can feel her couch vibrating with the way that Kara is trembling and what was it that Kara said?

“What was that? I wasn’t paying attention. I’m sorry. My thoughts immediately went to whether or not you were going to tell me that you found my mother -,”

“Oh no! No, Lillian is still in hiding. We still don’t have news about her, so you don’t have to worry. But we’re still keeping tabs and there are a few agents checking out possible Cadmus warehouses every now and then. No that wasn’t what I said. It’s not about Lillian at all,” Kara mumbles.

“Then what was it about?”

There’s a look in her eyes that says she can’t believe that she has to say whatever it is that she said again but she seems fine with having to. She takes a deep breath and this time, Lena focuses her attention on Kara.

“I said I’m in love with you, Lena.”

Lena’s brain short-circuits. “I’m sorry. Could you say that again? I want to make sure that I heard it right.”

Kara blushes. “I’m in love with you.”

Five words. Just five short words but they pull at the corners of Lena’s mouth and tug upwards. She doesn’t think she’s smiled this wide before, doesn’t think that her heart could perform somersaults inside of her chest, doesn’t think that she would ever feel what it feels like when people say that they feel the entire zoo in their stomachs. But here it is. Here they all are. It’s like New Year’s in Disneyland.

“Really?” Lena whispers and Kara feels her heart pump doses of courage.

“Yes. Really,” Kara takes Lena’s hands and looks at her in the eyes when she confesses, “I’ve known it for a long time, but I just couldn’t say it. I was scared. I still am. I don’t want anything to change between us.”

“Well things are going to change,” Lena says, and Kara looks devastated until Lena adds, “Because I’m in love with you too.”

-

All this time they’ve been in love with one another yet neither of them knew. Kara partly blames herself for not telling Lena sooner, but then again maybe their timing is just right.

She’s still in Lena’s office, sitting on Lena’s couch, inches away from her, and holding both of Lena’s hands. It feels like a dream and Kara has half the urge to pinch herself on the leg to make sure that she’s awake.

Lena is looking at her with bright green eyes full of adoration, and Kara knows that Lena isn’t holding back anymore, isn’t stopping herself from conveying how she truly feels with the way that she looks. Kara knows the feeling because she’s sure that she’s looking at Lena the exact same way.

Kara beams. “Does this mean that I can take you out on dates?” She asks, and Lena feels like a teenager being asked out for the very first time. She bites her lower lip and nods.

“I would really like that.”

Kara is about to set a time and a place when a knock on the door reverberates throughout the office. Lena doesn’t let go of Kara’s hand even as the door slightly opens and in pokes Jess’ head.

“Miss Luthor, I’m terribly sorry for the disruption but Miss Ardeen is here for you,” Jess says, and Kara sees the way that Lena’s face lights up. So this is what James was talking about.

Lena turns to Kara, looks at her with that bright smile of hers that makes Kara say ‘yes’ when Lena asks if she could let Imra in.

“Thank you,” Lena beams, squeezing Kara’s hands before letting go to meet Imra.

“Of course,” Kara replies.

Imra enters the room and immediately sees Kara on the couch. She starts apologizing for disturbing the pair, but Lena dismisses her and invites her to sit on the chair perpendicular to where she and Kara are sitting.

Lena starts talking to Imra and Kara notices how at ease they are with each other. She sees how Lena looks so comfortable with Imra, and how Imra looks like she feels the same way. It’s a beautiful thing to watch and Kara realizes that, for the first time, she doesn’t feel even the barest hint of jealousy at all. And it isn’t because she knows that Lena likes her too, isn’t because she feels like there’s an assurance that she’s won because she’s never felt like this was a competition. Lena isn’t a prize.

And then it clicks in her brain like a light switch had been turned on. The only reason she feels jealous of Imra is because she sees how happy she makes Lena and she wishes that it’s her making Lena happy. But she’s always made Lena happy, and now someone else makes Lena happy too so why would Kara deny that when Lena deserves more people who genuinely care about her?

Kara smiles as she joins Lena and Imra’s conversation, finally seeing everything in a different light.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: here have more supercorp fluff before we get to the nitty gritty

Alex runs faster than she’s ever ran before, winding through the crowd and pushing past people unapologetically. She might have hit a man on the shoulder with her elbow, but she doesn’t really care. All she cares about now is getting up to Kara’s apartment.

She opens the building doors with a heavy push, running towards the stairs, taking two steps at a time. Her heart is pounding on her ribcage, but she knows that it isn’t from exertion. It’s from the panic weighing down her chest when Kara had called her minutes ago sounding frantic and distressed when she said, “Alex, I need you.” The call had disconnected after that, leaving Alex to imagine the worst. All she can think of is Lillian and her kryptonite and god, Alex would kill her if anything happened to Kara.

She gets to Kara’s floor in an instant and when she reaches the door to her sister’s apartment, she doesn’t hesitate to kick it down. The panic in her stomach rises to her throat when she enters the room and sees Kara’s clothes strewn everywhere -on the floor, on the counter, on the couch, above the refrigerator. But Kara is nowhere to be found.

“Kara?!” Alex yells out desperately. “Kara!”

She hears a small voice say “in here” from the bedroom. Rushing to the room, she sees Kara on the floor, looking dejected and resigned. Her eyes are shut close and there’s a painful expression across her features that makes Alex jump to her side.

“Kara, I’m here, it’s okay. What happened?”

Kara doesn’t answer, and Alex feels the panic inside of her multiply tenfold. She reaches out to her sister as she examines her skin, looking for traces of anything glowing green.

“Kara, please! Tell me what’s wrong. Who did this you? I swear to god -,”

Kara’s eyes open suddenly. She looks up at Alex, clearly confused. “What do you mean ‘who did this to me’”?

“Your attacker! Who was it? What did they do? I need to get you to the DEO.”

Kara finally sits up at Alex’s frantic tone. She reaches out to hold Alex by the arms in a firm grip.

“Alex, calm down. What do you mean ‘my attacker’? What makes you think that I’ve been attacked?”

Alex’s shoulders immediately sag. Her brows furrow in complete misperception. Kara had called her, right? And Kara had sounded like she was in trouble.

“You called me. You said you needed my help,” Alex explains.

And then it hits Kara. She did call Alex saying that she needed her. And then she hung up without elaborating -which, of course, to Alex would translate as her being under attack and calling for help. _Oh._

Kara’s face turns red and Alex notices it immediately. Her eyes narrow into a glare and Kara has the decency to look apologetic.

Alex stands up slowly, backing away from her sister, and crossing her arms above her chest. Her posture is rigid and if Kara wasn’t in trouble before Alex had arrived then she sure is now.

“Why did you call me, Kara?”

Kara lowers her head and mumbles a reply.

“Sorry, what was that?” Alex says, her voice dripping with an ire that makes Kara squeak.

“It’s my first date with Lena this afternoon and I need help with what to wear,” Kara whispers and Alex looks at her sister incredulously, like she can’t, for the life of her, believe that her sister called sounding so terrifyingly desperate because she needs help with what to wear on a date.

Alex doesn’t know if she wants to laugh, or cry, or maybe punch her sister on the shoulder. She’d really like to do the last one. Kara made her panic, made her imagine the worst, made her _terrified_ out of her wits, but she knows that punching her would only result to a broken knuckle. So she sighs and settles for staring at her sister with a disappointed look instead, the one that makes Kara squeamish, and revels in the fact that Kara, at least, looks remorseful.

“You know what,” Alex finally says, “I’m going to need a drink.”

Kara jumps up from her position and follows Alex to her kitchen. She notices her broken door immediately and is about to comment when Alex stops her with a look that says that it’s not her fault that she was worried.

Kara looks at the door again and decides not to mind it. She can probably weld the hinges together with her heat vision later. She turns towards Alex.

“So you’re going to help me?” Kara asks, sounding hopeful. She has her hands clasped in front of her and Alex knows exactly what Kara is doing. Kara is looking at her with big blue eyes and she’s jutting out her lip in a sort of pout and Alex resists the urge to throw the bottle she has on her hand.

God, what a cheat, Alex thinks.

She rolls her eyes, huffs, and begrudgingly says, “Fine. But you owe me big time.”

-

Kara is wearing a yellow sundress that Lena thinks is utterly appropriate. Kara is the very personification of sunshine after all.

Lena, on the other hand, is wearing a dark green sleeveless romper that matches the forest in her eyes. She has her hair down, ironed straight and cascading on her shoulders just like how it was when she and Kara had first met. She’s so beautiful, Kara thinks, completely wonderstruck at just how breathtaking Lena is.

Noticing Kara stealing glances, Lena giggles and says, “Keep your eyes on the road, Kara.” She’s trying her best to sound less affected than she feels but Kara hears the way that her breath hitches when she catches her staring. It makes her turn a shade of pink.

They’re in J’onn’s car, which Kara had borrowed for the afternoon. Kara is driving them somewhere she promises Lena has never been to before.

“You’re really not going to tell me where we’re going?” Lena asks, excitement and curiosity spilling out of her despite trying her best to seem collected.

“No. It’s a surprise,” Kara replies conspiratorially, and Lena doesn’t ask again, fully trusting Kara with wherever she’s taking her.

They continue their journey with casual conversations. Kara asks her about work, and Lena supplies her with information that aren’t exactly confidential but ones that she don’t normally share with other people either. 

Kara occasionally looks at her, signifying that she’s listening to every word. She nods a few times as well, sharing her thoughts on how she thinks Lena’s projects would be beneficial. And then they switch roles, with Lena asking her about work and Kara answering her with her usual complaints of how Snapper is too tetchy, and how she feels like she needs to be Kara Danvers more than she is Supergirl.

It’s a wonderful feeling, Kara thinks, to still be able to feel completely human around Lena even when Lena knows that she’s Supergirl too. It’s different and yet so magically refreshing to, for once, not need to feel like a superhero. With Lena, Kara doesn’t feel like it’s wrong to feel that way, to want to be normal even just once in a while.

And that’s exactly what Kara wants Lena to feel today. Normal. Like she’s just any other person and not the CEO of two multibillion companies. Which is why Kara took her here.

Kara parks the car on a field by a cliff overlooking the ocean. A few feet away from the edge stands a massive tree, its branches creating a large shaded spot.

Lena steps out of the car as soon as Kara kills the engine. She takes a few steps forward, looks out onto the view and takes in the expanse of green and blue that she’s been missing out on. She closes her eyes, smiling when she hears the birds, and the wind, and the waves crashing down rocks and shore on the beach below them. She sighs. She’s been in the city for too long.

“I hope it’s okay that I brought you here,” Kara says as she takes the picnic basket from the backseat of the car. She walks over to Lena, stopping beside the other woman. “I just, I wanted to make our first date special, memorable. So I thought that I’d bring you here, because I want you to feel how you make me feel.”

Lena turns her head to face Kara, her brows knitted in confusion when she asks, “How is that?”

Green eyes meet blue ones and Lena sees it as clear as day, the sincerity and the insurmountable affection painted across Kara’s face. She sees trust and respect and _love_ , and she _feels_ waves and waves of it right when Kara slides her hand down hers to intertwine their fingers together and says, “Here it’s just you and me. There aren’t any waitstaffs to give you the special treatment, aren’t any paparazzi to take your photographs, no one to disturb you, pressure you, or even look at you just because you’re Lena Luthor. Here, with me, you’re just Lena. Just like I’m always only Kara when I’m with you.”

-

Lena has never felt freer in her life than she is now, by a cliff overlooking the ocean, under a tree, on a blanket, right beside Kara Danvers.

She can’t believe it. After months and months of pining and yearning, she finally got the girl.

“What are you smiling about?” Kara asks, grinning at Lena like she knows what she’s thinking of.

“I’m just really happy to be here with you.”

“I’m really happy too.”

Lena reaches out to hold Kara’s hand. She gives it a gentle squeeze when she says, “Thank you for having the courage to tell me how you feel. If you hadn’t done it, we wouldn’t be here.”

“I’m really glad that I did,” Kara chuckles, “Although I wish I’d done it sooner.”

“So why didn’t you?” Lena asks with an arched brow, clearly teasing, making Kara blush.

Kara looks down. She fiddles with Lena’s fingers when she answers, “I feared ruining our friendship. I was afraid that things might change between us.” She turns to Lena. “I didn’t want to lose my best friend,” Kara says, and Lena feels her heart hammer in her chest.

Emotions flood Lena’s veins, coursing through every fiber of her being when she sees the sheer honesty painted across Kara’s features. _Kara didn’t want to lose her_ runs around her mind and it touches her to know that Kara wants her that much in her life, that Kara would rather keep her feelings to herself than risk losing her. She would rather have Lena in her life as a friend than not have Lena in her life at all.

“You would never lose me,” Lena says without a hint of doubt. “Even if you told me how you felt, and I didn’t feel the same way, you wouldn’t lose me. You’re my best friend.”

Kara smiles at her, nodding before she asks, “How about you? How come you didn’t tell me how you feel?”

“For the same reason. And well,”

“What?” Kara asks, and Lena turns a shade of crimson. “Tell me.”

Lena bites her lower lip. It’s an embarrassing thing to admit but she knows that if she wants to do this right then she should be completely honest. So she bows her head and whispers, “I thought that you still had feelings for Mon-El.”

Kara’s eyes widen. “Really?”

“Yes, really,” Lena says with a tone dripping with accusation and -is that jealousy Kara hears? “The two of you were awfully close when he first arrived. And I mean even Imra was jealous so of course that’s what I would think.”

Kara flinches when she remembers her insensitivity towards Imra, but she doesn’t dwell on that part. She focuses on something else instead.

“’Even Imra was jealous’? Are you telling me that you were jealous of me and Mon-El too?” Kara teases.

Lena rolls her eyes to seem unaffected, but Kara sees right through her and laughs at the obvious façade. She sighs. “I wish I’d known then how you feel about me because then I would have told you that I feel the same way, that I’ve always felt this way. It’s always been you, Lena.”

Kara laces their fingers together and Lena beams at her with an ache because they’re finally here. They’ve gone through so much together, as a Super and a Luthor, but more importantly as Kara and Lena. And now after all of the tension, the unspoken words, the stolen glances, the silence, the patience, after holding back for so long, they’re finally here. Them. Kara _and_ Lena. They’ve fallen for each other and now they’re stepping into love together. That’s how the greatest love stories always unfold.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: do not fret my saturncorp babies. momma's got yous


	10. Chapter 10

Kara is wearing a pair of dark jeans and a light blue blouse. She’s fiddling with the buttons, nervous that she’s wearing the wrong ensemble. Lena did tell her to dress casually, but she can’t stop worrying about it. Is what she wearing casual enough? Or is it too casual? She doesn’t really know what to think. Lena didn’t tell her where she’s taking her for their second date. All she’s been told is to come to Lena’s apartment at a certain time, so she and Lena can travel -by car- to their destination together.

Kara grins a little, thinking that Lena withholding this information is a retaliation of some sort.

Her watch suddenly beeps then, signaling her that it is eight o’clock in the evening. She takes a deep breath and exhales her anxieties away before knocking on Lena’s apartment door.

Now Kara knows that Imra has been living with Lena for quite some time now. She’s expected to see the woman out and about in Lena’s apartment. What she didn’t expect, however, is the door swinging open to reveal Imra wearing one of Lena’s old MIT t-shirts.  She looks so at ease in it, as if it was hers and not something she had merely borrowed. Kara waits for the jealousy inside of her to flare up, but it doesn’t come. In fact, she hasn’t been feeling jealous lately -not even last week when she saw Imra and Lena having lunch together at CatCo.

“Hey Kara, come in,” Imra says with a gracious smile. “Lena arrived a little late so she’s still in her room finishing up.”

Kara steps inside and Imra closes the door behind her. The other woman ambles towards the living room and sits herself down on one of the couches. Kara notes that she’s watching a television series that she recognizes is Game of Thrones. Imra turns her head to Kara who is still standing by the door.

“Have a seat. I’m sure that Lena won’t take long.”

Kara walks over to where Imra is situated, sitting on the other end of the same couch.

They stay in companionable silence for a few minutes. Imra’s brows are furrowed in concentration, obviously immersed in the show. Kara tries to follow the characters’ conversations, but her mind keeps reverting to worrying over her outfit.

Imra must have noticed her eyeing her blouse for the umpteenth time because she turns, smiles and says, “You look great, Kara. Don’t worry about it.”

Kara blushes, embarrassed at getting caught. “It’s not too casual?”

“No, not at all.”

There’s a knowing look in Imra’s eyes that makes Kara ask, “Wait, do you know where Lena is taking me?”

Imra grins. “Yes.”

“And she didn’t tell me-,”

“Because you didn’t tell her where you were going the last time you went on a date,” Imra chuckles and Kara laughs along at Lena’s antics.

There’s a beat of silence before Kara notices a determination in Imra’s eyes. She looks like she has been wanting to say something ever since Kara had arrived. A minute passes by until Imra finally clears her throat and says, “I’m really happy that you and Lena are together. I’ve noticed her smiling more lately. It’s a really good sight.”

And Kara sees the pure sincerity painted all over Imra’s face when she says it. It softens her heart to know that someone cares about Lena’s happiness like she does.

“She’s been smiling more ever since you’ve been friends, Imra. I’m really glad that you’re here for her too,” Kara says. It’s unexpected, especially for Kara herself what with her previous bouts of jealousy, but she finds that she really means it.

Imra, however, is quite uncertain. She stiffens at the admission and when she sees that Kara has noticed her sudden rigidity, quickly appeases, “I just -I didn’t say anything before but I felt a kind of tension between the two of us. At first, I thought it was simply because of Mon-El but it persisted even after we had talked about it, so I guessed that it had something to do with Lena."

Kara sighs. Of course Imra had noticed. She isn’t exactly the subtle type, as James had previously mentioned.

“Yes. I was, ah, well, I was jealous before,” Kara explains and Imra looks grateful for the honesty. “I was jealous over your growing closeness with Lena but I’m not any more. I realized that I shouldn’t be because Lena deserves more people in her life, people who care about her. And you’re one of those people Imra.”

Imra steels herself, deciding to be candid about her feelings since they’ve started being honest with each other. “I do care about her, Kara,” she says in a tone that means something else, something deeper. Kara hears it and immediately understands what it means.

She’s about to respond when Lena’s door opens and both women turn their heads to see the woman stepping out of her bedroom.

“You look really pretty,” Imra says and Kara could only nod in agreement.

“Thank you,” Lena beams. “You look really lovely in my old shirt as well. And you Kara, look absolutely stunning.”

Imra turns her head to face the blonde, “See? I told you.”

Kara blushes as she mumbles a ‘thank you’. She stands up, offering an arm to Lena. “Shall we?”

“Yes.”

Lena links her arm around Kara’s and Imra watches as the pair walk together towards the door.

Imra is about to turn back to her show when she hears Kara call out. “Hey.”

Imra raises her brows in silent acknowledgement.

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

Kara simply smiles and shrugs in response.

-

Kara gasps when Lena’s driver pulls up in front of a Chinese restaurant. Its red neon lights are blazing up above them, but Lena thinks that Kara’s smile is brighter than all of the led lights in National City combined. She sees the way that Kara is beaming, the way that her cheeks are stretched, and the corners of her eyes are crinkled, and she gives herself a mental pat on the back for doing well on choosing a place for their second date.

“This place isn’t supposed to open until next week,” Kara says.

Lena arches a brow, giving Kara a teasing look. She raises her chin in faux-haughtiness that makes Kara giggle. “Being a Luthor has its advantages.”

Lena’s driver opens their car door for them. Kara slides out first, stands on the sidewalk and holds out her hand for Lena to take. They walk together towards the restaurant’s main entrance where they are welcomed by a young Chinese man who introduces himself as Lee, the restaurant owner’s son.

Lee leads them to the centermost table, right below a dragon chandelier casting off a faint yellow light.

“I should have dressed more appropriately,” Kara mumbles, once again worrying about her outfit.

“If you would have then I’ll seem out of place,” Lena chuckles as she gestures at her own ensemble -black jeans, red blouse, and a pair of black doll shoes. She reaches out to take Kara’s hand, squeezes it, and says, “It’s just the two of us in here, Kara. And I want us to be as comfortable as we’d like.”

Kara smiles, and squeezes Lena’s hand in return. She looks around. There are Chinese lanterns glowing red and dangling on the ceiling. The walls are painted with flowers and mountains and calligraphies. The entire room smells of jasmine and lavender, complimenting the gentle Chinese instrumental music playing on the background. It’s perfectly romantic, and Kara thinks that the night couldn’t possibly get any better.

“I hope that you don’t mind, but I’ve pre-ordered three servings of potstickers for you,” Lena says once they are settled and have been handed the menu.

Kara swoons, “Have I mentioned how much I like you?”

“You haven’t yet tonight,” Lena teasingly replies.

Kara leans forward. There’s a shimmer in her eyes when she whispers, “I like you. A lot. More than the three servings of potstickers that you’ve pre-ordered.”

It’s Lena who blushes this time.

Lee returns only a few minutes after they’ve placed their order. A staff walks behind him, bringing plates of duck, beef, vegetables, and dimsum. Soon enough their table is littered with a variety of delicacies.

They talk all throughout dinner, jumping on to topic after topic. That’s always how it is with them. They never run out of things to talk about. And when they do experience a bout of silence, it’s comfortable and companionable.

Kara is finishing off her ice cream when Lee approaches their table with two saucers, each containing a fortune cookie.

“To end your evening with luck,” he says as he puts the saucers on the table.

“Thank you, Lee,” Kara says. Lee takes a step back and bows before retreating to the kitchen. “Well I’ve been really lucky so far. I don’t think tonight could get any better.”

“Let’s find out, shall we?” Lena says.

They pick up their respective cookies in unison. Lena is still reading her fortune when she hears Kara groan. She schools her emotions, reeling in her feelings when she asks, “What did yours say?”

“It says ‘you will receive an unexpected call’,” Kara says as she rolls her eyes, “I’m sure it’ll be just Snapper calling in to remind me of my deadlines. What about yours?”

Lena bites the inside of her cheek, “I’m not telling.”

Kara raises a brow. “Hey, that’s unfair,” she chuckles.

“Well I quite like my fortune, and I think that telling you would jinx it so,” Lena explains very seriously but Kara sees the mirth in her eyes.

“Alright then,” Kara relents. Lena winks at her before folding the small piece of paper and putting it in the safety of her pants’ front pocket.

-

Kara insists on having Lena’s driver take them to Lena’s apartment. She can fly back to hers, she tells the other woman. It would make her feel better knowing that Lena is safe at home.

They walk in comfortable silence towards the elevator, but there’s a palpable tension lingering between them, sort of like an itch that both women have been wanting to scratch since they’ve started seeing each other -actually even longer, if they’re being honest.

Kara makes the first move, reaching out to Lena’s hand and tangling their fingers together. It makes Lena’s breath hitch, the anticipation of it all. She’s certain that Kara can hear her heart thundering in her chest. She hopes that it isn’t too loud, but it probably is.

The elevator door finally opens when they reach Lena’s floor, and they walk hand in hand towards Lena’s unit.

They stop outside Lena’s apartment.

“So…” Kara whispers.

Lena bites her lower lip. She feels warm all of a sudden. “Yes?”

Kara clears her throat, “Thank you for tonight. It was perfect.”

“Anything for you, Kara,” Lena replies and a blush creeps up Kara’s neck.

They stand there for a minute, both just lovingly staring into each other’s eyes but too scared and shy to do anything about it. Lena wants to lean in, she really does, but she wants Kara to set their pace, doesn’t want to do anything that might make Kara uncomfortable.

Kara, sensing Lena’s reluctance, finally blurts out, “Can I kiss you?” She winces when she realizes that she has said it too loudly. She clears her throat, feeling her face heat up. “I mean, I’ve been wanting to since… for a very long time. But I just wanted to ask you first, if that’s okay.”

Lena doesn’t say anything. She simply smiles and leans forward, and Kara, noticing Lena’s movement, meets her halfway.

Kara is cupping Lena’s face with her hands while Lena is holding on to Kara’s waist, their hearts going from thunderous to serene as their lips meet. It’s sweet, and chaste, and genuine, and perfect, and Kara thinks that her heart is going to explode. Lena’s lips are soft and plump, and they taste like cherry flavored lip balm.

Kara’s thumb sweeps Lena’s cheekbone and Lena tries her hardest not to fall. Kara is gentle and warm, and she smells like vanilla and honey, and Lena can’t help but pull Kara in just a little bit, just to bask in her more, revel in the sunshine that she has in her hands.

Their eyes both flutter when they part.

They’re both gushing and smiling like idiots when Lena suddenly reaches into her pants’ front pocket, revealing the folded piece of paper from her fortune cookie. She unfolds it, showing the written sentence to Kara.

“ _The person who holds your heart will kiss you tonight_ ,” Kara quietly reads before giving the paper back to Lena, who in turn puts it back in her pants’ pocket.

“I got lucky,” Lena says, and then they’re both giggling.

They kiss again before Kara says her goodbyes and leaves.

Imra notices Lena’s deep sigh when she enters the apartment. It makes her smirk and teasingly say, “You seem like you’ve had a fun night.”

Lena’s blush grows a deeper shade of red. “I did.”

“Do you want to tell me about it?”

And Lena does. She takes a seat beside Imra, turning slightly until their knees bump to face her. She starts from the beginning, how Kara reacted when they arrived at the restaurant, what they ate, parts of what they talked about, how Lena felt, and what Kara looked like under the glow of the lanterns.

She withholds a few details, of course, because that’s between Kara and her, and she knows that Imra isn’t asking her to tell her everything. In fact, Imra didn’t even ask her to say anything at all, only asked if Lena wanted to share her night with her, which of course Lena did for fear of her heart imploding from happiness.

“I’m so happy that you’re happy,” Imra says, reaching out to touch Lena’s face, cradling it with her palm. “You deserve it more than anyone I know.”

Lena’s heart stutters, and suddenly she isn’t so sure if it’s from the high of her night or Imra’s hand on her skin. She doesn’t dwell on it though, focuses on sighing a “thank you” instead.

“We should get some rest. You have an early meeting tomorrow,” Imra casually mentions as she retracts her hand.

It’s become a usual thing for them, Imra reminding Lena of her agenda at work for the following day. And it isn’t because Lena is forgetful. Lord knows that Lena is one of the most organized human beings in the planet. It’s more on her prioritizing work so much that sleep becomes secondary -something that Imra will not allow, and Lena takes comfort in it, having someone remind her that she can’t save the world if her health falters.

Imra pats Lena’s knee when she stands up. And then she turns to face Lena, who at that moment has decided to stand as well. They bump into each other rather harshly, and Imra, having a much harder body than Lena, sends the woman bouncing back down to the couch. In a moment of panic, Lena holds on to the front of Imra’s shirt and brings her toppling down with her.

Imra takes hold of Lena’s head, reflex taking over her and telling her to secure the other woman despite them falling down on what is probably the softest couch in National City. It’s a mess really, the both of them all tangled up together all because of a slight miscalculation -something that Lena isn’t known to make. When had she become so clumsy? What’s an even bigger mess is the fact that Imra’s hands on the back of Lena’s head has brought them to a closer proximity, and Imra, not having pulled her own head back to brace herself upon impact, lands her face on Lena’s face. Specifically, her lips just on the corner of Lena’s mouth.

It takes them a moment of stunned silence before they are able to gather their bearings. Imra moves first.

“I’m so sorry,” Lena hurriedly says as Imra straightens herself.

“It’s fine. I should be the one apologizing for accidentally kissing you again,” Imra says, chuckling despite her embarrassment. Lena sees Imra’s face begin to redden but it isn’t like before when it first happened. This time, Lena sees a flash of guilt in Imra’s eyes, and she thinks that she knows why but she doesn’t want to dwell on it.

Imra apologizes again and not wanting to make things more awkward, smiles and says her good night before walking towards her room.

Lena is still speechless on the couch, trying to recount what had happened when she feels her pants’ pocket suddenly grow hot.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: omg, look at how far we've come! i'm so excited to finally be posting this. i want y'all to know that i've planned this from the get-go. again, it was always meant to end up this way. answers, statements, and any other previous actions that might have muddled you were all orchestrated because i didn't want to give anything away. and i just want to say that i'm so very very happy that a lot of you have embraced saturncorp even though we're all first and foremost supercorp shippers here. it really means a lot to me. now, i'm sure that some of you won't want anything to do with the story after this and i wholeheartedly understand and i want to thank you for sticking with the story this far. and i'd also like to apologize because i can't give you what you want. really sorry buddies. but to those who'll continue to read and support this, i love yous and yous are awesome. 
> 
> p.s. this is just part 1 of the whole confession scene.

It’s only ten in the morning but Lena is already drowning in a massive pile of paperwork. There are so many documents to read, to recheck, to sign, that her head is already throbbing from the sheer amount of it. She’s adamant on finishing them right away though, firm on keeping herself continuously busy even if it means earning a migraine. She’d rather have that than think about the events that had transpired the night before. Her date with Kara. Kara’s lips on hers. And then Imra and her lips on the corner of her mouth. It’s all such a big mess. But what’s an even bigger mess is Lena’s inability to see it as such. Everything is as clear as glass for her. Or it’s clear now after what had happened the night before.

Her feelings for Kara _and_ her feelings for Imra both. Yes, the bigger picture is confusing and undecipherable as of the moment, but the details are so glaringly obvious that the clarity of it all scares Lena to the point of dizziness. So yes, she’d rather take the work-induced migraine than the emotion filled rollercoaster ride sickness.

She’s reviewing a blueprint, filling her mind with thoughts of wires and circuit boards and panels when she hears it, a thundering boom just outside of her office. She stills. The noise sounded very much like a bomb. She hears screams and loud footsteps but not any signs of her employees being harmed. _Good_ , she thinks, _they’re only after me_.

She thinks that she should be used to it by now. There have been numerous attempts on her life before after all. But every time something happens, the thought that this could be it runs repeatedly around Lena’s mind. That ‘what if they finally get to me this time’ lingering in her brain and it brings a cold shiver down her spine.

She’s about to stand up when the doors fly open, making her jump. Five armed men enter her office, three carrying guns that look too complicated to be made with human technology and two holding a device resembling an oil lamp.

“You’re coming with us,” a man with grayish hair commands as he stomps towards Lena. She guesses that he’s the leader of this little terrorist group.

“I’m not going anywhere with you,” Lena defiantly spits. She supposes that they haven’t come to harm her because if that was their purpose then they would have shot her already. No, they’ve come to take her.

“Well you don’t have much of a choice.”

He’s a mere meter away, holding out his hand for Lena to cooperatively take when a blur of red and blue crashes inside of the office and takes him out with a single crackling punch. Lena instinctively drops to the ground, covering her head. The other men raise their weapons to fire but Supergirl is much too fast for them. She superspeeds towards one man, grabs his gun and throws it away before shoving the man so hard that he’s knocked unconscious when he hits the wall. She’s about to give another one of them a piece of her mind when the two men in the corner simultaneously drop the lamps in their hands and flip a hidden switch from behind the devices. Lena hears a beeping sound grow louder and louder until she notices the lamps begin to radiate a greenish glow. Kryptonite.

“AHHH,” Supergirl screams as she drops to her knees.

“Supergirl!” Lena calls out as she gets up. She’s rushing to Supergirl’s side when a man grabs her roughly by the arms. “Let me go!”

The man with the grayish hair slowly stands up from his slumping position, cradling his now broken jaw. He ambles towards Supergirl with a sneer on his face.

“Boss only wants her daughter, but she did say we’d earn points if we bring you along,” he says. “But first we have to make sure that you’re properly subdued.”

Lena watches, heart clenching violently, as the man retracts his right leg only to swing it hard towards Supergirl’s stomach.

“AGH!” Supergirl groans, bringing herself to a fetal position. She looks so helpless, the veins on her face and arms already glowing green.

“STOP IT!” Lena yells but it falls on deaf ears. The man continues kicking Supergirl, even inviting the others to do the same. Lena feels tears well up in her eyes as she watches. To them it’s just Supergirl, their enemy, someone they’re paid to put down, but all Lena can see is Kara, slumped and defeated and _aching._

She feels so weak, so fucking useless just watching as these thugs hurt Kara. She tries her very hardest to remove herself from the clutches of the man who’s holding her, tries kicking his shin, stomping on his foot, moving her arms aggressively but all to no avail. His grip is too tight.

And then Lena’s arms are suddenly free, the man behind her is unconscious on the ground, and a blur of black is speeding towards those infernal Kryptonite devices and smashing them until they’re all but rubble.

-

The first thing that Imra sees is Lena being held by a gruff-looking man. From behind them, she can see the way that Lena’s arms are beginning to redden from the brusqueness of the man’s grip, and with the way that Lena is trying to break free, Imra is certain that the other woman’s arms are going to bruise. The scene electrifies a rage in her that makes her speed towards him, grab him by the neck and pummel him unconscious.

She speeds towards the lamp-like devices next, certain that they’re emitting Kryptonite what with the way that they’re glowing devilishly green. She grabs them both and wrecks them.

By then, the three other men having a go at kicking a nearly insentient Kara had noticed her. One of them run towards her with a retracted arm and a closed fist. He moves in for a punch but Imra sidesteps just in time to elbow him in the face. He quickly recovers however, shooting out his right hand to grab Imra by the hair. The force of his pull makes Imra take an involuntary step back. The man throws her over to Lena’s couch. She hits the cushion so forcefully that she sends it sliding back.

She recovers just as the man is about to kick her. She takes his foot, punches his knee and twists, not giving a damn that the move is too violent even for her.

The other men forego Supergirl on the floor and simultaneously attack her. She fends them off as best as she can, but the men have alien technology that can actually hurt her.

“Kara,” she telepaths.

Imra hears Kara groan, sees her move her arms painfully slowly. Damned Kryptonite.

A man with grayish hair raises his gun and fires. She moves to avoid the shot but the purple wave that comes out of the gun grazes her shoulder. She feels the wound burn her flesh like wildfire. Whatever their tech is, it’s dangerous.

“Imra!” She hears Lena shout.

The men raise their brows at this.

“Another friend?” the man with the graying hair sneers. “Your mother was right. You have lost your way.”

Something about the disgusted way that the man addresses Lena enrages Imra even further. She abandons the stinging pain on her shoulder and speeds towards the said man. He notices her however and raises his gun just in time to shoot her on the leg.

“AGH!!” Imra staggers back, sweltering pain reverberating all over her body.

The man raises his gun again, intent on shooting to kill, but his gun explodes right before he can pull the trigger. Out on the corner of his eye he can make out a floating Supergirl, her eyes red and angry. His face pales as realization dawns upon him. Their kryptonite devices are all but dusts in the wind now and even though he still has one other man standing, he knows that they are no match for the girl of steel.

The other man raises his gun and point it towards Supergirl but despite being exposed to kryptonite just a few minutes earlier, she’s still faster than him. She subdues him, swiftly knocking him out on the ground before she returns to the man with the grayish hair with murder in her eyes.

He has the audacity to smirk. “You won’t kill me. You don’t kill people.”

“I don’t,” Supergirl replies, turning to Imra who, through sheer willpower, is now standing and limping towards the said man. There’s a storm in Imra’s eyes that makes the man gulp. “But I think that she does.”

It’s untrue of course. She’s never taken a life before and Kara knows that, but he doesn’t and they both bask in his very obvious fear.

They aren’t usually like this, scaring their enemies just because they’re stronger and faster and generally more invulnerable but there’s an unspoken agreement between them. An agreement in the form of the woman frozen on the corner of the office.

Lena.

This man came to hurt Lena, and that fact makes both Imra and Kara vibrate with such intense anger.

“Supergirl, Agent Ardeen, stand down,” J’onn commands as he emerges in the room with his gun raised. Alex and the other agents follow suit.

Alex’s heart drops when she sees her little sister obviously drained, and Kara gives her a look that means ‘We’ll talk later. Not in front of everyone.’ Alex gives her a short nod before handcuffing the man and taking him into custody along with the others.

Imra sees Alex hauling them out, sees J’onn talking to Lena, sees Mon-El looking at her with overflowing concern.

“Imra, are you okay?” She hears Supergirl ask her from her side. Imra opens her mouth to answer but all that comes out is a croak. It’s then that the boiling pain on her shoulder and leg return with a vengeance. She feels weak all of a sudden, like she hasn’t slept for days. Her knees give out and then her vision fades to black. The last thing she hears is Lena screaming out her name.

-

“You’re awake,” Kara whispers when Imra’s eyes flutter open.

She looks around. She’s on a bed inside one of the DEO’s rooms in the medical wing. There’s a numbing pain on her shoulder and her leg, and only then does she recall getting shot. “How long was I out?”

“Five hours,” Kara says. She looks drained as well, but she seems to be better. “How do you feel?”

“Well-rested,” Imra replies. She bites her lip, wanting to ask something but is reluctant to do so. She’s not sure if she should ask. She wants to, but maybe it would be better if she asks someone else. Not Kara. It wouldn’t be right to ask Kara.

Kara senses Imra’s hesitance then and knows exactly what’s going on in the other woman’s brain. She reaches out to touch Imra’s arm and thinks aloud, knowing that Imra will hear, “Lena’s okay. She’s resting in the other room. Alex mentioned that she was here a couple of hours ago, before she ushered her to rest.”

“Thank you,” Imra whispers, feeling burdened with guilt.

“Please don’t feel guilty for asking,” Kara suddenly says, and it takes Imra aback. Kara isn’t a mind-reader, right?

“Oh I-,”

“No, Imra, really. It’s okay. I know that we haven’t properly talked about this. But I understood what you meant yesterday at Lena’s apartment when you told me that you cared about her.”

Imra’s brows furrow in confusion. “So then why aren’t you angry at me?”

Kara sighs. “I’m still figuring that out, to be honest. I think that if it was someone else I would be, but I see the way that Lena looks at you. She cares about you too. Although I’m not sure if it’s in the same way that you do about her. I think that it is though.”

“And you aren’t angry?” Imra asks again, needing clarity.

“No. No, I’m not. Honestly, I’m glad that someone sees her in the same way that I do. And yeah, okay, James does too but it’s not the same with him. I don’t know. I can’t explain it. You, though, you see her like I see her. And I know that that should make me jealous, like I was before but you know what? Right now, all I feel is gratefulness. I’m grateful that you see her, that you care about her. Most of all, I’m grateful that you can protect her. You saved her back there _._ Rao, I’m so thankful that you could when I couldn’t.”

Imra doesn’t say anything, just lets it all sink in. Kara moves her hand from Imra’s arm down to her hand and gently squeezes.

“I think that Lena needs you just as much as she needs me.”

“I just -I feel like we’re back to square one, but with the roles reversed, you know?”

Kara nods knowingly. “I understand. But it’s different this time. It’s Lena. And Lena and Mon-El are two very different people.”

Imra sighs. “I just don’t want you to feel like how I felt before. Like I wasn’t enough. I don’t want you to feel like I’m stealing her from you.”

Kara’s heart clenches in her chest, realization once again dawning upon her that that was how she made Imra feel. And now, yes, their roles may have reversed but she doesn’t feel that way at all. She doesn’t feel like Lena is being taken away from her. She doesn’t feel like Lena is replacing her. Yes, the thought that she might not be enough has crossed her mind but never has it dwelled in it for too long -because she knows Lena and she knows that Lena’s heart is always in the right place.

And in the years that Kara has lived, the one thing that she is sure of is that there are as many kinds of love as there are many kinds of people, and they are all real and they are all valid. Some people experience only a certain type of love and there are others who experience things differently. And then there are people who never thought they’d experience something, but then a special person comes along and changes everything that they thought they knew. And that’s okay. Even if other people say that it isn’t realistic -because just because they can’t relate to something doesn’t mean that it’s not real. It is, and it’s still love.

And Kara knows that. So she smiles, thinking about how far they’ve come from where they began, and now they’re back in a somewhat similar place, but in an entirely different situation. Because it’s Lena. And Lena isn’t Mon-El.

“Trust me. I don’t feel like that at all. So I guess that what I’m trying to say is that Lena’s not my property and you’re free to care for her the way that I do. And if Lena cares about you too then so be it. But just -that’s just my side. At the end of the day, it’s Lena’s call.”

“Of course,” Imra agrees -because it’s rather presumptive of them to be discussing about this when they don’t even know how Lena feels about her yet. She can only hope that whatever happens, Lena would let her stay in her life -no matter what form. She’ll take it.

“And whatever happens,” Kara firmly states, “We’ll remain friends.”


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: oh look another one lol here's part 2. i thought about posting this next week but i feel like it's important to have both parts up in one day. i hope you guys like it.

Lena rouses just a couple of hours after being ushered to sleep. She feels better, much more well-rested. She makes a mental note to thank Alex for letting her use one of the rooms in the DEO medical bay. She slips out of the bed, intent on heading towards the other room where Imra is. She’s slipping on her shoes when a soft knock on the door echoes throughout the room. She looks up and sees Kara leaning on the doorframe.

“Kara,” she breathes out. The blonde ambles towards her and they meet halfway. Lena wraps her arms around Kara’s neck while Kara sidles hers around Lena’s waist. Lena tucks her face on the crook of Kara’s neck, breathing in the blonde’s scent. “You’re okay.”

Kara feels Lena’s tears seep through her shirt. She moves a hand to Lena’s back, moving it in a circular pattern to calm the other woman down. “I am.”

“I came to see you before I visited Imra a few hours ago. You were sleeping under the sun lamps.”

“I know. Alex told me.”

“I was so worried about you,” Lena whispers and Kara feels her heart swell when Lena holds her tighter, like she’s never going to let go. “I’m so sorry, Kara.”

“Why are you apologizing?” Kara asks, pushing Lena gently to look her in the eyes.

“Because they were hurting you and I couldn’t do anything to help.”

And Kara feels her heart about ready to combust -because it was Lena that those bad men had come for. It was Lena that they had come to take. It was Lena’s life on the line, but Lena seems to have forgotten all about that. All Kara can see is the unmistakable fear in Lena’s eyes -fear not for her own safety but for her, for Kara.

“Don’t be sorry, Lena. None of it was your fault. I should be the one apologizing. I’m sorry it took me so long to get there. There was a shootout at the alien bar, but I should have known that it was just a ruse to distract me. You were the real target. If Imra hadn’t called me to tell me about what had happened, they would’ve been able to take you.”

Lena sighs. They bask in silence for a short while until Lena sniffles again.

“I thought I was going to lose you,” Lena whispers and that’s all that it had taken for Kara to crash their lips together in a passionate kiss. Lena instantly reciprocates, breathing out loudly through her nose as her shoulders sag because Kara’s hands are on her shoulders, keeping her still, keeping her grounded. It’s a reassurance that Kara is here and that she’s safe -they both are.

They lean into each other’s foreheads once their lips separate. Kara whispers, “I’m here. And I’m not going anywhere. You’re never going to lose me. And I promise that I’ll do everything I can not to lose you. I-I love you, Lena.”

It’s the first time that Kara has said it. In fact, it’s the first time that either one of them has. But Lena doesn’t seem taken aback by it. And Kara doesn’t seem like she wants to take it back -because it’s how she feels. It’s what she’s been feeling for a long time. And she wants Lena to know. Just like Lena wants Kara to know that she feels the same way.

Lena holds Kara’s face in her palm. “I love you too, Kara,” she replies.

And Kara feels how genuine it is, how honest, how raw, and how powerful despite the gentle way that it had been delivered. She feels how certain Lena is when she says it and it’s so tangible -as if she could feel Lena’s words cradling her in its arms, in its safety. It makes her feel secure. It makes her pull Lena back into an embrace so fierce that their bodies mold together to look one. It makes her push Lena gently back, kiss her forehead, and say, “You should visit Imra.”

Kara feels Lena stiffen and there’s a flash of guilt that passes Lena’s eyes. Kara sees it, of course, and it’s all the confirmation that she needs.

“Kara, I… I actually want to talk to you about something,” Lena says with a hint of tremble in her voice.

“Is it about Imra?” Kara inquires, ever so gently, ever so understandingly.

Lena doesn’t respond immediately, just stares into Kara’s eyes. There’s an apology written all over Lena’s features and a worry clouding her eyes. Lena lowers her head.

“Please don’t hate me Kara. I just, I want to be honest with you. You deserve that after all… Imra -she’s, we’ve… We’ve grown closer over the course of our friendship. She’s become important to me. And I -I’ve grown to care about her. Deeply.”

Lena still has her head lowered, like she’s afraid of how Kara would look at her. It would be understandable, of course. After all she’d just told the other woman that she loves her, and now she’s confessing about having feelings for another. She just doesn’t think that she can handle it if Kara looks at her with hatred, with revulsion, with –

“Look at me,” Kara whispers.

Lena raises her chin slowly, but her eyes are still looking at her feet.

“Lena, look at me,” Kara repeats. This time Lena concedes. “I love you.”

“And I love you too,” and there’s that certainty again.

“But you’ve grown to love Imra too.”

Lena lowers her head again. “I have.”

“And that’s okay,” Kara says immediately. The firmness in her voice makes Lena snap her head up to look at Kara.

“What?”

“I’ve known for a while,” Kara admits. “I mean, I notice everything about you Lena. So yes, I’ve noticed how you regard Imra. And I confess that I was jealous at first, but then I saw the way that the two of you interact and I saw how happy she makes you. And I know you Lena. I know how uneasily you give your trust. I know how high your barricades are. So, I know that Imra breaking all of those means something important.”

“Then why aren’t you angry?”

“I’m just not,” Kara says determinedly -because Lena needs to know that nothing changes. Kara still loves her all the same.

“But doesn’t that make me selfish? Don’t you think that I am?”

“No,” Kara firmly answers. And she means it. She means it with all of her heart. And no, she’s not just saying that because she’ll do and say anything for Lena. What she has for the other woman isn’t just some infatuation, isn’t just some kind of blind admiration. She can’t explain it. All she knows is that the words that come out of her mouth are exactly how she feels. “I think that your capability to love the both of us is beautiful. You have so much love to give Lena. And if you choose to give Imra that love too then go ahead. I won’t deny Imra the love that you can offer her. And I won’t deny you the love that Imra can give.”

 _The love that Imra can give,_ Lena hears it as clear as a bell. She hasn’t been reading the signs wrong. She feels her eyes well up with unshed tears. Kara loves her so much, and she doesn’t know what she had done to deserve it. “I just don’t want you to feel like you aren’t enough for me.”

“I’ll be honest and admit that the thought has crossed my mind. But we’re all new to this. And I guess, what I’m saying is that if you want the three of us to learn together, to find out how we can make this work together, then I’m here. I love you Lena. And I know that you love me even if you love Imra too. I feel it. You love me. And just because there’s another person in your heart doesn’t mean there’s less love for me.”

Lena feels the tears slide down her cheeks then. Kara is still looking at her with so much love, so much understanding, so much trust and acceptance and Lena feels it like a blanket covering her, sheltering her.

“Go,” Kara whispers. “Imra’s waiting for you.”

-

Imra remembers it like it was yesterday. She was standing on the balcony, looking out onto the city, listening to the cars passing by. And then Lena was there, stiff and uncertain, asking her out to lunch. Lena had been so formal then, so business like. Imra cannot help but smile as she realizes how far they’ve come, how comfortable Lena is with her now, how they’ve come to trust each other. Their friendship may have started out because of a terrible reason, but it’s grown because of all the right ones.

“Imra?” She hears a small voice from the door. It brings her out of her reverie.

“Hi,” she responds as she tries to sit up.

“No, don’t. Just -lie back,” Lena says, rushing to her side.

Imra’s hand instantly finds Lena’s once the woman is standing beside her. She holds it, and gently squeezes. “I’m so glad that you’re safe. I wouldn’t know what I would have done if something happened to you.”

“Thank you for coming when you had,” Lena whispers as she looks down.

“Of course I’d come, Lena. You know I would. For you. Although my timing could have been better,” Imra says, trying to lighten up the mood.

Lena manages a smile. “Yeah, your timing really needs work. I mean you just came crashing in and there you were.”

“I didn’t know how or when or where it started, Lena. All I knew was that I was somewhere else, but that I had to get to you.”

Lena’s breath catches in her throat. She snaps her head up to meet Imra’s gaze and she’s sees it then. Imra had caught on and they’re not really talking about what had happened earlier, are they? No, they’re talking about something else, something entirely different.

Imra caresses Lena’s knuckles with a thumb. She takes a deep breath. “And did I?”

Lena tilts her head.

“Get to you, I mean,”

And she can’t lie. Not when her heart bursts at the seams when she recalls Imra getting shot. Imra falling to the ground. Imra in her office. In her home, making coffee in the morning. Imra on her couch with a glass of wine on her hand. Imra at the DEO. At the balcony all those months ago not knowing how far they would come, not knowing that they would get here, that they would feel this way about each other.

Lena had fallen for Imra and she didn’t know when it happened. All she knows is that Imra crept up on her. Imra with her stormy eyes, and her jet-black hair, and her lips that always smile when they’re together. The thought that maybe she’s fallen for Imra because she was there to comfort her when they both thought that Kara and Mon-El were getting back together crosses her mind, but Lena knows that it isn’t true. Because if it is, then why does she still feel so strongly for the other woman when that book has long been closed? She and Kara are together now, so why are her feelings for Imra still present? Still persistent?

Lena thinks that she’s known even then. Maybe she’s known for a while. Maybe she’s just been shrugging it off because there’s always been Kara. But everything is clear now. Kara is here. But so is Imra. And she doesn’t know how it’s possible because she’s never felt like this before, but she thinks that maybe her heart has room for them both.

“You did,” Lena replies, staring intently into Imra’s eyes, conveying how she truly feels for the other woman for the first time.

“Yeah?”

Lena breathes out a smile, “Yes.”

Imra takes Lena’s hand, raises it up to her lips, and kisses each knuckle.

“Did you know when?” Lena asks.

“No,” Imra admits. “All I know is that I did. And it isn’t because you were there for me when I was going through my marriage troubles. It isn’t because of that. I just, I got to know who you are. I got to see how you are as a friend, as a boss, as a scientist, as a businesswoman -as Lena. And the next thing I knew was feeling an overwhelming amount of admiration towards you, and this need to protect you, to ensure that you’re safe, and above all, happy.”

Lena takes her hand from Imra’s grasp to tuck a stray strand of hair behind the other woman’s ear. “And I feel the same way. And I don’t know when too. You took me by surprise, Imra. All I know is that I want you around. Always. I want you. And I want Kara too. God, I sound like Mon-El, don’t I?”

“No! No, you don’t. You’re nothing like him, Lena. Don’t say that.”

“But -,”

“No. Listen to me. Mon-El made me feel invisible. He made me feel like I was replaceable. But you never made me feel like that. And I’m certain that you’ve never made Kara feel that way either. You’ve never treated Kara badly, Lena. You care about her feelings. Don’t you see? You’re different from him because never once has Kara questioned your feelings for her despite her knowing that you have feelings for me. Despite her knowing that I have feelings for you. You love her in a way that makes her feel secure, Lena. And that’s where Mon-El had lost me. And you never make me feel invisible. Even when Kara’s around.”

That seems to convince Lena because she purses her lips and merely sighs.

“I never thought that I would be able to feel comfortable with sharing someone,” Imra confesses, “but it’s different this time. It took a special person to change both my mind and my heart -and it’s you, Lena. Because you never made me feel like it was a competition, like I had to vie for your attention, even though I know that Kara and I have different portions of halves. You make me feel secure in the way that I know that just because you’re going to give Kara your heart doesn’t mean you won’t have any love for me too.”

The words choke the breath out of Lena’s lungs and all her doubts begin to disappear. Kara and Imra trust her so much, trust her love, trust her heart. It’s a little disconcerting if she’s being completely honest but everything about it elates her as well.

Lena never thought that she would find love. In fact, Lena believed that she didn’t deserve it. But now there are two amazing women who love her, who want her for her. Two amazing women that she loves back so dearly. Two amazing women who want to try for her, and with her. She never thought that she could love two people at the same time. But Imra is right. It takes a special person. Or special people, in her case. And Kara and Imra are nothing if not special.

-

Kara, Imra, and Lena are all inside Imra’s room, talking closely with one another. It seems like they’re talking about something important, and something entirely emotional because Mon-El sees the way that Lena wipes the corners of her eyes every so often.

He isn’t eavesdropping. He wouldn’t do that. He’s just come to see Imra, having been wrought with worry when he saw Imra collapse just hours ago. He’s concerned about her, and so he thought he could visit her to see how she’s doing.

Kara and Lena have beat him to it though, so Mon-El decides it would be best to wait until the women have finished talking. He’s sitting on the steps of the stairs, a few feet away from Imra’s room when he sees Lena and Kara step out of the door. He stands immediately and waits for the women to go on their way before he ambles towards the room.

“Imra?” He gently calls out when he enters. Imra moves her head to the side to regard him. She smiles.

“Hi.”

“Hey,” he says as he closes the door behind him. He walks over to her side. “How are you?”

“I’m feeling better. Thank you for coming to visit me.”

“Of course. I mean, we’re still friends, aren’t we?”

“We are,” Imra answers and Mon-El feels a weight lift off his shoulders.

“Hey, Imra, I just… I wanted to apologize again, for everything that had happened between the two of us. I know that we’ve moved past that already, but seeing you so worn out a while ago reminded me of how much I care about you. I still do, Imra. I know that I messed up. I know that I made a mistake and I threw away the happiness that we had, and I regret that. But I will always care about you.”

Imra moves her hand to cradle his face. Mon-El looks so young like this, when he’s being honest. He looks like the man that she’s fallen in love with all those years ago.

Imra knows that deep down she will always love Mon-El. You can’t un-love someone you were married to, Imra thinks. But things have changed. Her heart belongs to someone else now. Still, Imra can’t help but feel happy knowing that Mon-El is changing. She sees it. She notices it. Mon-El is becoming the man that Imra knows he could be. And Imra knows that if Mon-El would stick by it, would let himself grow, then he would be able to keep the love that Imra is sure he’d find again.

“I’ll always care about you too, Mon-El. We’ve had a great marriage, haven’t we? It may not have ended up the way that I used to wish it would, but it’s done now, and I no longer have any grievances. We’re always going to be friends, and you can always count on me to be there for you because those years were real. And I choose to believe that what we had was real, even in that short time.”

“It was,” Mon-El reassures her. “I did love you, Imra. I really did.”

Imra sighs, dropping down her hand from his face, “I know. But there’s no going back to that now. And you’re a good man, Mon-El. You have your lapses, but you’re a good man. And you can be better. I’m just sorry that I can’t be there to see you grow through it.”

Mon-El is silent for a while. He really did love Imra. He grew to love her. But he knows that he screwed up. He knows that he flirted shamelessly with another woman in front of his wife. He knows that he disregarded her, that he forgot about her, because Kara was there. And no, he isn’t blaming Kara. He’s blaming himself because he couldn’t love the two women who loved him properly. He knows that. He knows that he was a shit boyfriend to Kara. And he knows that even before he had his lapses as a husband to Imra. He has finally realized that all this time, he’s been putting his feelings first, uncaring about how it would affect the people that he claims to love -and he knows now that that isn’t right. It took him such a long time to finally see but he does now. And he promises himself that he’s going to change.

So with that promise in mind, he says, “We’ll get a divorce.”

Imra’s eyes widen in surprise. It’s not that she doesn’t want one. In fact, she’s thought of asking him for it ever since she realized her feelings for Lena.

“You’re a great woman Imra. Anyone would be lucky to have you. And when you finally find someone to give your heart to again, I want you to be able to freely give it. I don’t want you to be bound by the remnants of us. You deserve it,” he says.

“Come here,” Imra whispers as she pulls Mon-El in for an embrace. “We both deserve it Mon-El. You’ll find love again, I know it. Thank you.”

“I love you,” he whispers and they both know that it’s for the last time.

“I love you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: we're nearing the end of our ride, ladies and gentlemen. only five more chapters until we say good bye. i hope y'all stick with it til the end. send me love!


	13. Chapter 13

Imra wakes up the following morning to the smell of waffles and coffee.

Gingerly, she opens her eyes, and catches sight of Lena placing a brown bag and a steaming cup atop her bedside table. The gesture sends a spread of warmth across her face, painting her cheeks a faint pink.

“Good morning,” she whispers, making Lena turn to her shyly.

“Good morning. I hope I didn’t wake you.”

“You didn’t, but the smell of coffee did,” Imra teases. She catches Lena’s hand and gently tugs, urging the woman to sit on the mattress. Lena concedes.

“How are you feeling?” Lena asks, trying her best to sound neutral even when her stomach is lurching pleasantly with the way that Imra is toying with her fingers.

“I’m still a bit sore, but otherwise I feel like I’ve woken up from a great dream.”

Lena arches a teasing brow. She smirks, “You think that being shot is great?”

“No but knowing that you have feelings for me too definitely is. It means that I can do some things that I couldn’t have done before.”

“Things like what?”

Imra bites her lower lip, grinning like an idiot before answering, “Like kissing you for real.”

It knocks the wind off Lena’s lungs. Her heart beats a little faster and her face feels like it’s on fire. She’s speechless and it’s making Imra chuckle. Is Imra going to be this incorrigibly flirtatious from now on? Lena doesn’t think she can handle it.

“You’re a tease,” Lena tries to berate but her voice sounds high-pitched and entirely unconvincing.

Imra could only giggle more before raising Lena’s hand and kissing the ridges of her knuckle. She watches as Lena turns her head to check if anyone might see them, and slowly releases Lena’s hand when the woman turns back to her with a hesitant look on her face.

Imra looks behind Lena and sees a few agents milling around the hall just outside of her room. It makes her feel a little downtrodden because all she wants to do right now is shower Lena with her affections, but she understands. They’ve only just figured things out the night before, and Kara had so kindly asked if Imra and Lena could keep their relationship private for the time-being. But not because Kara wants them to be a secret. Imra and Lena both know that it’s because Kara wants the three of them to personally tell their friends about their relationship. And both women agree. As much as their relationship is their own business, they still want to give the people around them a proper heads-up, especially since not doing so would make Lena look like she’s cheating on Kara, and Kara and Imra don’t want that. More importantly, Imra and Lena know that Kara is only thinking about Alex, and both women respect that Kara wants to disclose their situation to her sister first before anything else.

“If it makes you feel any better, I want to kiss you properly too,” Lena whispers, shaking Imra out of her reverie. That makes Imra smirk, and Lena sees the mischief swirling in her eyes. Has Imra always been this massive seductress?

“Maybe when we’re home,” Imra suggests and Lena thinks that she might implode. Honest, understanding, and gentle Imra had made Lena fall in love with her, but this cocky and flirtatious side is going to get her in trouble.

Still, Lena does her best to school her expression. “Maybe,” she replies, “but only after work.”

Imra notices the other woman’s attire then. It makes her shake her head.

“You’re going to work?”

“Yes.”

“Lena -,” Imra tries but Lena’s palm is already up to stop her.

“I won’t give my mother the satisfaction of thinking that she scared me -no matter how true it is.”

There’s a firm expression painted across Lena’s face that makes Imra concede. It’s one of Lena’s best traits after all -her resilience, and it’s one of the many things that Imra likes about her. So with a sigh, Imra nods and reminds her, “If anything happens to you again, you know that I’ll be there.”

“I know.”

Lena stands up and leans over to kiss Imra on the forehead before leaving.

As soon as she’s gone, Imra rolls to her side to retrieve her cellphone from the bedside table. She sends a quick text to Kara saying, “Lena’s gone to work. I tried to stop her, but she was determined to go.”

To which Kara replies with, _“I’ll check up on her later. For the both of us.”_

-

Alex has never been happier for Kara. Truly.

Kara’s been smiling a lot more lately. She’s been humming more show tunes, baking more cookies, and has generally been ten times more of the sunshine that she already is.

And Alex knows that she has Lena to thank for that. Lena nerdy little Luthor, who has been a great addition to their team. Lena who is slowly opening herself up not just to Kara, but to their group of friends as well. And Lena who, without a doubt, loves Kara with every fiber of her being. Alex knows this. She’d seen it in the way that Lena looked at Kara yesterday, when Kara had been asleep under the sun lamps and Lena sat beside her, pushing stray strands of hair from her face, looking at her like she still can’t believe that out of the many people on this Earth Kara chose her. Alex saw the ache in Lena’s eyes then, the unspoken apology because they all know that Kara would risk her life to save Lena. Time and again Kara will, and Lena looked like she can’t bear the thought of seeing Kara like that again.  So yes, Alex knows that Lena loves Kara with all of her heart -which is why it comes as a huge bomb when Alex decides to pay Imra a visit that morning only to see Lena sitting beside Imra as Imra kisses Lena’s hand in a way that is too romantic to pass as friendly.

She stops by the door, examining the way that the two women are looking at each other with such fondness. She doesn’t want to think too much about it because she knows that Lena would never do anything to hurt her sister, and because she believes that Imra isn’t that kind of person as well. Moreover, Imra and Lena have been close friends for a while now -but something’s different somehow. There’s a weight in Alex’s stomach, a sort of pull in her gut that tells her that something is wrong. And as much as she doesn’t want to doubt Lena, Alex can’t help but feel like she should do something.

So Alex walks away from Imra’s room, takes her cellphone from her back pocket and sends a quick message to Kara that says: “Meet me at Noonan’s now. I have something I want to talk to you about. Can’t do it through the phone.”

She presses send and then takes off.

Alex arrives at the café in a matter of minutes. She enters the place and sees Kara sitting at one of the tables on the corner, waving at her to get her attention.

“Hey,” Kara greets as soon as Alex reaches her. The older Danvers takes a seat across her sister. “What’s this thing you have to tell me?”

Alex sighs. She’s thought a lot about what she would say to Kara. And she’s thought about how she should say it -but saying something would probably take the smile off Kara’s face and that’s something that Alex isn’t keen on doing. Still, she knows that her heart is in the right place. Kara might think that she’s paranoid or distrusting of Lena, but in the end all she wants is what’s best for her little sister. So she steels herself and lays it out it as plainly as she could.

“I saw Imra kissing Lena’s hand this morning. I know it sounds harmless, and I might sound like I’m paranoid, but something felt off about it. They were looking at each other differently.”

Kara bites her lower lip.

“I’m sorry I said anything. I just -you know how protective I am of you,” Alex continues when Kara doesn’t respond.

Kara remains passive for a minute, but Alex knows her sister well. She sees the way that Kara’s eyes move around, unable to look at her straight on. It’s a telltale that Kara is hiding something from her.

She crosses her arms, leans back on the chair, and raises a manicured brow.

“Okay. I don’t want to pressure you or anything, but is there something you’d like to tell me?”

That makes Kara crack. She sighs, long and hard. “This is not how I planned to tell you.”

“Planned to tell me what?”

“About Lena and Imra.”

Alex’s face rumples in confusion. “Wait, what about Lena and Imra?”

“They’re sort of dating.”

“What do you mean they’re ‘sort of dating’? Aren’t you and Lena dating,” Alex questions, leaning forward and resting both palms on the table. She has a murderous look in her eyes, one that Kara fortunately sees and quickly rushes to appease.

“Yes. Lena and I are dating. But Imra and Lena are dating as well.”

It takes a second before Alex fully comprehends what Kara is telling her. She sags. “Wait… So Lena is dating you both?”

Kara nods.

“Is that… allowed? I mean of course it is. Polyamory is a real and valid thing. I guess, what I’m trying to say is that I just… I didn’t know that you could,” Alex stammers.

“Yeah, I mean, I didn’t know that I could either. But the three of us… It doesn’t feel wrong, you know? I’m not jealous of Imra anymore. There isn’t any animosity between the two of us. We’re friends. And we both love Lena. It just, it took us the right person, if you know what I mean.”

Alex nods knowingly.

“I was going to tell you. Really. I was just waiting for the right moment. I mean, I didn’t know how to tell you. We’re all new to this after all.”

Alex listens as Kara retells the story of how it all happened. Of her date with Lena a couple of nights ago, and her conversation with Imra and Lena just the night before. She listens as Kara explains her realizations, her feelings, and her decisions. And by the end of it, Alex could only stare at her sister in admiration. She’s admittedly still a little baffled by their arrangement, but she can’t deny the pride that she feels for her sister’s growth and maturity, knowing that only a few people would be as open to it the way that Kara is. She’s always known that her sister had a heart of pure gold, but never had she thought of just how capable Kara is at loving. 

“When did you get so grown up?” Alex asks, and Kara blushes at the compliment.

Alex reaches for Kara’s hand on the table. She gives it a light squeeze.  

“As long as you’re happy.”

“I am.”

-

Weeks have passed since the attack on L-Corp, and things have gone back to their new normal -which includes movie nights at Lena’s apartment.

The three of them are huddled closely in the living room with Lena sitting in the middle of the couch, Imra’s head on her lap, and Kara’s arm around her shoulders. Imra hums as Lena threads her fingers through her hair, lightly scratching at her scalp, just as Kara sighs as Lena cranes her neck to place a tender kiss on Kara’s jaw. Kara turns her head to kiss Lena’s temple then, as Imra takes one of Lena’s hands to kiss her palm.

It’s a beautiful sight to see -the three of them so at peace with each other, fitting together like pieces of a puzzle.

They continue watching the movie in relative silence, with Lena touching the both of them, reassuring them that she is theirs and theirs alone. It makes it hard for both Imra and Kara to leave her side, but Imra finds herself standing up as soon as the credits roll in at the end of the movie. She doesn’t say anything. She simply stands, gives Lena a smile, and then ambles towards her room.

“We’ll be back,” Kara says as she stands to follow Imra.

“What’s going on? Where are you going?”

“Just stay here, okay?” And Lena does as she is told, no matter how curious she is. She watches Kara’s retreating form, feeling warmth bloom in her chest as Kara walks towards Imra’s room.

A minute goes by and Kara and Imra return to the living room wearing matching smiles. Their bright and beaming faces shake Lena out of her daze. They’re walking towards her with so much love in their eyes and as Lena looks back at them, she notices a small box in Kara’s hand.

Kara crouches down as she presents the box. She hands it to Lena, who takes it with a curious expression.

“What’s this?”

“Open it,” Imra responds.

Lena gingerly opens the box, revealing a watch with a golden case and a brown leather strap. She looks back at Kara and then up at Imra who is smiling down at her.

She takes the watch from the box and studies it, noticing the intricate pattern engraved on the bezel and the symbols on the back.

“What are these?” Lena asks as she runs her thumb over the ciphers on the back of the watch.

“It’s Kryptonian and Saturnian,” Kara replies.

“But what do they say?”

“Something about our promise to always protect you,” Imra says as she looks down at Kara, the two of them sharing a look.

Lena continues fiddling with the watch, her brows shooting up when her fingers come across a small latch on the opposite side of the crown. She lifts the latch gently, opening the face of the watch to reveal a small button.

“It emits a high frequency ultrasonic signal that only Imra and I can hear,” Kara explains.

“It’ll let us know if you’re in trouble,” Imra adds.

Lena looks at Kara and then at Imra, feeling waves and waves of gratitude and appreciation and _love._ She doesn’t know what she had done to deserve such loving and caring women, but here they are, loving her and letting her love them both. She thinks that maybe it’s the universe’s way of apologizing for the shitty life that she used to have. Or maybe it’s the universe’s way of repaying her for her resilience. Or maybe, just maybe, the universe had finally decided that she was worth these amazing women. Whatever the case, Lena thinks that she’s finally hit the jackpot. She may be one of the most influential people in the world, but it’s with Kara and Imra that she finally feels like she’s the most important.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: i'm back! i'm so sorry it's taken me longer than usual to update. things have been very hectic lately. but here i am now and here it finally is. thanks again to everyone who's read, commented, kudos-ed, bookmarked, etc. etc. you guys motivate me to keep on keeping on.

If there’s one thing about herself that Lena prides herself in, it’s that she always strives for greatness. She doesn’t like being just good, or simply being satisfactory. When she does something, she wants to be excellent at it _._ It’s one of the Luthor traits that she’s happy to be instilled with as it has helped her reach millions of milestones in her education and in her career. But of course, Lena knows that she can’t be great at everything. That’s just not the way that life works so, she sticks with what she knows matches her capabilities. And when she steps out of her comfort zone, she makes sure that it’s something that’s at least within her limitations.

Self-defense is not one of those things, Lena has recently discovered. Not at all.

Sure, Lena had a few quick lessons with Alex before, but not like the ones that she’s been having with Imra for the past few weeks. Never this brutal. It pains her to admit it, but self-defense is something that she can’t even begin to be great at.

She tries though, and she’s going to continue to try because that’s just who she is. So, she swings her right arm back and throws it forward for a punch for the nth time that afternoon. Imra quickly blocks it of course. She holds on to Lena’s waist just before Lena stumbles forward with the force of her punch.

“Good try,” Imra says and Lena puffs a breath, clearly disappointed.

“Still not getting the hang of it?” A voice queries from the other side of the room by the door. The two women turn their heads to see Kara entering the training room. The blonde has a smile on her face, having seen a bit of Lena’s training.

“No. But I’m really trying,” Lena grunts, throwing a punch towards Imra’s direction while the other woman is distracted. Imra sees it with her peripherals, however, and is quick to dodge it.

Lena groans at having missed her target yet again while Imra and Kara chuckle at her antics.

“That was cheating,” Imra snorts.

“No, it wasn’t. You were preoccupied so I took the opportunity. It’s called being strategic,” Lena replies matter-of-factly.

“No, sorry, I have to agree with Imra on this one,” Kara says, sending Lena a mock apologetic look.

Lena rolls her eyes, smirking when she says, “So you two are ganging up on me now?”

“No. But do you want us to?” Imra asks, mischief twinkling in her eyes.

Lena turns to her and then to Kara. The two women share a look, and Lena’s certain that she’s going to be in trouble.

In a swift move, Imra is behind her, holding her arms close and keeping her still. Kara is walking over to her, fingers extended and waggling, and Lena curses herself for having told them that she’s ticklish.

She tries to break free from Imra’s grasp, but Imra’s hands are strong and solid on her arms, and Kara is moving closer and closer.

“Kara, you won’t dare,” Lena threatens.

“It was Imra’s idea,” Kara says laughingly, dropping her fingers. Lena’s breathing evens.

“Wow, thanks,” Imra snorts as she lets go of Lena’s arms. Lena turns around to poke Imra on the stomach and Kara feigns falling over when Lena softly pushes her.

After their laughter has died down, the three of them talk about the younger Luthor’s progress. Kara asks how Lena’s training is going and Lena smiles proudly when Imra relates how she is getting better at firing. She sags a bit however when they begin talking about her skills in hand to hand combat. She’s a little embarrassed, to be honest, but she tells herself that she’ll improve. More importantly, she understands that she needs to learn how to defend herself and that’s motivation enough. Kara and Imra might have given her a special watch but the pair still insist on teaching her the basics, and Lena knows that she can’t rely on them all the time.

“Great. Progress is progress, after all,” Kara tells Lena before she turns to the other woman. “I’m going to take over from here though. Brainy’s looking for you.”

“What does he want me for?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t ask. He just told me to tell you to meet him,” Kara replies and Imra immediately nods. Kara is quick to notice her sudden stiffness but doesn’t mention it.

Imra turns to Lena and gives her a quick peck on the cheek before heading out.

“I wonder what it’s about,” Lena thinks out loud.

Kara simply shrugs despite the nagging inkling on her mind.

-

Despite Alex’s knowledge regarding Kara’s relationship with Lena and Lena’s relationship with Imra, seeing the three of them all together still surprises her. What surprises her even more is the fact that they’ve come together as a trio, entering the alien bar with Imra’s arm around Lena’s neck and Lena’s hand intertwined with Kara’s. They had been so discreet in the past few weeks especially at the DEO that seeing them now like this makes Alex feel like she hasn’t known about them at all. It also tells Alex that they’re done keeping their relationship from their friends.

Alex turns her head to the side and sees Winn, James, and Mon-El conversing animatedly with each other. She smirks. The boys won’t know what’ll hit them.

The trio arrives at their table and Winn is quick to give them half-hugs. James offers a wave and Mon-El manages a small smile. Kara’s eyes find Alex’s immediately and Alex quickly understands the look that her sister is giving her. It’s time. They’re ready.

“I’m going to get us another round of drinks,” Alex says, standing up from her stool. She purposefully takes her time knowing that Kara, Lena, and Imra are relaying a very important message to their friends and sure enough when she turns around to check on them, she sees the boys donning wide eyes and dropped jaws. She grins. Three points for the ladies, she jokingly thinks. She stays by the bar a moment longer before returning to their table with an armful of beers.

“Wow,” Winn says, still looking a little mystified.

“Yeah,” James agrees.

Mon-El is quiet but there’s an unreadable expression on his face as he stares at his former wife.

They’re all silent for a long while until Alex taps the table, unable to bear the tension any longer, and says, “Alright. Well now that you’re all aware, I’d like to borrow Lena for a minute.”

“Me?”

“Yeah, come on.”

Lena slowly stands up from her stool and follows Alex to the side of the bar. She gulps, having a hint as to why Alex had asked for a private audience.

They stand on the end of the bar counter near the billiard tables where a group of alien teenagers are playing. Lena knows that it’s a strategic area. They could talk, and Kara would have trouble listening in what with all the billiard balls crashing on one another. It makes her all the more nervous.

“So…” Alex starts. “You and Kara, and you and Imra.”

“Yes,” Lena says.

Alex releases a breath before resuming, “I’m okay with all of that. Kara’s explained to me how it all began, and how the three of you are trying. To be honest, I don’t know how the three of you are going to make it work -but it doesn’t really matter how you guys do it. The only thing that matters to me is that you do. And that I won’t be home one day and Kara’s on my couch crying her eyes off.”

Alex tone becomes clipped at the last sentence which makes Lena quickly say, “I would never, never, intentionally do anything to hurt Kara.”

“I know, and I might have been really cold towards you at the beginning, but I just want to say that I trust you now. And I respect you and what you have with my sister and with Imra. So…please don’t do anything that would make me want to show you my vast collection of guns.” There’s a twinkle in Alex’s eyes when she says the last line, but Lena understands the depth of it despite the jesty way that it had been delivered.

So Lena smiles and rests a hand on Alex’s arm when she reassures her, “I promise.”

Alex nods, content with that promise. She links her arm around Lena’s, ushering the woman back to their table. But just as they almost reach their friends, Mon-El stands up and ambles towards them.

“Hey, I was wondering if I could talk to you too,” Mon-El says facing Lena. Lena hadn’t imagined a conversation with him, but she supposes it’s only natural that they do have one -what with Mon-El being the only other person to have had relations with both Kara and Imra.

“Of course.”

Alex raises her eyebrow at that as if asking her if she’s sure. She nods, releasing their linked arms and staying behind with Mon-El as Alex ambles towards the rest of their friends.

As soon as Alex leaves, Mon-El leads Lena to an empty table at the corner.

“Congratulations,” is the first thing that comes out of Mon-El’s mouth once they have taken their seats. The way that he delivers it takes Lena by surprise. There’s no aversion, not even a hidden dislike in his tone. All Lena hears is resignation and acceptance, along with the slightest indication of genuine happiness for her and the other parties involved.

“Thank you.”

“Take care of them, will you? Especially Imra,” he says. The words claw at her chest, strangling her, making her feel guilty.

“I will.”

There’s a stretch of silence that hangs between them before the tension finally breaks Lena. She shifts uncomfortably in her seat.

“Mon-El… I -I just want to let you know that at that time when you suspected something going on between Imra and I… We were just friends then. But still, I want to apologize because you turned out to be right in the long run.”

Mon-El looks at her. He seems a little bewildered. “No, Lena. You don’t have to apologize. I know that you were only friends back then. In fact, I should be the one apologizing for having stepped out of line. I humiliated you. I’m sorry.”

Lena sighs. “It’s all in the past.”

“Yes. And I’m happy that we’re in better terms now. Just as I’m happy for you and Imra. She deserves so much happiness and I’m glad that you’re able to give it to her. The same goes for Kara. They’re finally happy. The both of them.”

Lena recognizes the sincerity in Mon-El’s eyes, and in his tone, but it doesn’t erase the fact that his smile doesn’t quite reach his eyes.

“I’m happy for you, really,” he says.

“I want you to be happy too,” Lena tells him. It makes him lower his head.

“I will be. I know that I’ll find happiness again. But…I think maybe I need to fix myself first. I’ve already wasted my chance with two amazing women,” he says right before looking up, looking at Lena with a sad sort of smile. “I don’t want that to happen again with the next one.”

-

When she agreed with Kara telling them that it was time to tell their peers about their relationship, Imra didn’t imagine that they would be having one-on-one conversations with each of their friends. She merely imagined telling them the news as a group and then moving forward to other topics. But of course, she forgot to factor in that their relationship isn’t a very conventional one. Not to say that their friends are disapproving. It’s just that they’re all very protective of one another -and of course have mostly been romantically linked in the past.

So here Imra is, sitting across from Winn who, surprisingly, is giving her the shovel talk for Lena.

“I know it’s really not my place to give you this kind of talk, but Lena has become like a sister to me,” Winn explains and Imra nods in understanding.

“I’ll take care of her, Winn. I promise.”

“Thanks,” he says before standing up, and just as Imra is about to stand up and head to the bar to get herself a bottle of beer, Mon-El arrives and replaces Winn.

“Hey,” he says.

“Oh, hi,” Imra offers a smile.

“So…”

“Yes,” Imra says, already knowing what Mon-El is intending to say. That’s what happens when you used to be married to someone for a long time.

“I’m happy for you. I really am.”

And she knows that it’s true. She can see it in the softness painted across his face, the gentle way that he always regards her with.

“But does she know?” Mon-El asks and Imra instantly stiffens.

The act shocks Mon-El because it evidently means ‘no’.

“Imra, it’s been days since we told you.”

“I know…but I haven’t found the time to tell her. To tell them.”

She sighs and Mon-El can see the sadness in Imra’s eyes and empathy immediately embraces him like an old friend -because he knows exactly how it feels like.

He reaches out to her, patting her on the shoulder.

“Well, I hope you find the right time to tell them because it would suck having to go without properly saying goodbye.”

“Go?” A familiar voice queries from the side. “Go where?”

They turn to see a standing Kara with a very confused look on her face.

“Imra? Go where?”


	15. Chapter 15

It doesn’t take much for Kara to memorize someone’s heartbeat, especially if she’s been spending too much time with that said someone. So yes, Kara knows exactly how Lena’s heart sounds like. When she’s calm. When she’s tired. When she’s angry. When she’s sad. And when she’s sleeping. She thinks that she’s memorized it even before they started dating, so she considers herself a master at it now. And Kara thinks that, slowly, she’s beginning to memorize Imra’s heartbeat too.

She’s been spending a lot of time with the woman after all. They’ve had sleepovers in Lena’s room, movie marathons in her living area, and a lot of dinner dates in National City’s restaurants. She’s finally gotten used to it, to the three of them, so much so that imagining a life without Imra doesn’t quite feel right.

So when the bed shifts that early morning and Kara hears a loud drumming inside of someone’s chest, Kara knows immediately whose it is. Lena’s heart never sounds like that.

Kara cracks an eye open and sees Imra putting on a robe before heading out of Lena’s bedroom. Kara listens to the sound of Imra’s footsteps and deduces that Imra is in Lena’s balcony. She’s always had a penchant for looking out into the city.

Imra’s breathing shallows, and Kara knows what’s been eating her up for the past few days. They haven’t really talked about it, but Imra’s already confirmed it to her nights ago at the alien bar.

Kara sighs. She turns her head to see Lena still sleeping. She kisses Lena’s forehead before quietly slipping out of the bed.

She tries her best to move silently towards Imra, but Kara knows that Imra’s memorized her breathing just as she’s memorized her heartbeat.

“Good morning,” Imra says without turning around. She’s still looking out into the city and Kara knows that there’s a sad expression on the woman’s face despite not seeing it.

“I’m gonna miss you you know,” Kara confesses. That makes Imra turn.

“I know. I’m gonna miss you too. And this life -,”

“Our life,” Kara gently interrupts, and Imra smiles a sad little smile.

Imra turns back to the view of the city and Kara stands beside her. They bask in comfortable silence and Imra thanks Kara’s god that Kara can’t read her mind because she’s desperately miserable inside. She wants to stay. Of course she does. This time and this planet have her heart and her happiness. She’s made friends. She has a job at the DEO. _She’s made a life here_ and Imra can’t bear to just leave it all. But Imra also knows that even if Lena is here, it’s not where she belongs. She has another life to return to.

“I wish you didn’t have to go,” Kara whispers.

“I wish that too, but I have to. And I have to tell Lena.”

“Well, she’s already woken up so, I’ll tell her to meet you here.”

“Thanks.”

Kara turns to leave, and she swears to Rao she hears Imra’s heart break.

-

Lena wakes up alone in her bed. Odd, she thinks, because although Imra almost always wakes up before her, Kara never does so she had expected at least one warm body next to hers. Nevertheless, Lena takes advantage of the situation. She stretches her arms and legs almost catlike and exaggeratedly, liking the feeling of her muscles uncoiling within her. She’s never felt so relaxed before and she knows that she has Kara and Imra to thank. There’s a certain kind of safety that she feels whenever she sleeps beside the two women. It’s a security that she is sure she has never felt before. A feeling that no matter how dark and cold the night might get, she’s sure that no harm will come to her.

After one last yawn, Lena slips out of the duvet. Her feet instantly find her slippers. Quietly, she pads out of the bedroom and into the kitchen. She notices the lack of the smell of coffee which she again finds odd. It isn’t that making coffee in the morning is delegated to Imra, but she usually readies a pot right after she wakes up. And Lena knows for a fact that Kara does that too. Maybe they haven’t been awake that long, she thinks.

She looks around, wondering where Kara and Imra are. That’s when Kara opens the glass door towards the balcony, letting a breeze of warm air rush in to the apartment. It blows little wisps of Kara’s hair, and Lena can’t help but admire the sight of Kara being lit by the sunlight.

“Hey you,” Kara says as a greeting. She walks towards Lena and engulfs her in a soothing embrace.

Lena looks up.

“Good morning to you too. I can’t believe you woke up before me,” Lena teases and Kara rolls her eyes at the remark.

“Well, Imra and I had something we needed to discuss.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah,” Kara drawls.

“Is it something that I need to know?”

Kara bites her lip and a leaden weight drops down the pit of Lena’s stomach at Kara’s hesitance. She knows that something’s wrong. She thinks that she’s known for quite some time, what with Kara and Imra always looking concentratedly at each other as if they’re talking to one another in their heads.

She didn’t think it was something that concerned her, and so she didn’t think to ask what was wrong. Kara and Imra are entitled to their own conversations after all. Just because she is essentially the center of their relationship doesn’t mean that Kara and Imra can’t have their own private discussions.

But now, Lena is sorely regretting not asking them before. Kara might not be a snitch, but her face almost always betrays her, and by the scrunch of her eyebrows and the resigned look in her eyes, Lena knows that whatever it is isn’t good.

After what seems like forever, Kara sighs. “You should talk to Imra about it. It’s best that it comes from her.”

Kara gives Lena a quick peck on the forehead before releasing her from her arms and urging her towards the balcony.

“What’s going on?” is the first thing that comes out of Lena’s mouth when she reaches Imra.

Imra is looking at her with the saddest expression on her face, and Lena instantly dreads whatever is going to come out of her mouth. Still, Imra stays silent for the next few minutes and although Lena wants to wait until Imra is ready to tell her what’s wrong, Lena can’t help but prod. The tension is wearing her down, and she knows that deep down Imra is being crushed by whatever it is that she isn’t telling her.

“Tell me,” Lena says, reaching out both hands to hold Imra’s own. She looks at Imra’s eyes imploringly.

“I… I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you sooner, Lena. I just… Telling you meant needing to say good bye, and that’s the one thing that I can’t do. How can I look at the woman I love and tell myself it’s time to go?”

A crushing weight settles on Lena’s stomach. She knows what Imra is trying to say, but she can’t bring herself to believe it. She doesn’t want to.

“No. Imra, you don’t mean-,”

Imra nods sadly. “I do.”

Lena’s grip on Imra’s hands tighten, as if Imra is going to leave that very instant.

“How long has your ship been repaired?”

“For about a couple of weeks now.”

Lena gulps, not wanting to ask the next question but knowing that she must. “And when are you leaving?”

Imra sighs, “In two weeks.”

Lena’s heart sinks. She wants to be angry. She wants to tell Imra that she should have told her sooner. She could have made their every day more special. She could have held Imra closer. She could have readied herself, but the thought just makes her even more miserable because she knows that no amount of time would prepare her for it. Even if Imra told her weeks ago, Lena still wouldn’t be able to say goodbye.

“I didn’t want you to hold me closely at night because you knew I was going to leave. I wanted you to hold me because you wanted to.”

The admission sends tears streaming down Lena’s cheeks. She’s never going to be ready for it.

Imra pulls Lena into her arms.

“I wish I didn’t have to go but I belong in a different place. In a different time.”

Lena pulls back just enough to look at Imra, ferocity in her eyes when she says, “No. You belong here. With me. With us.”

It shatters all of the strength that Imra has left. Lena’s conviction when she had said that she belonged with her had cracked her open, and now she cannot help the tears that are flowing freely down her face. There’s a pain in her chest, like she’s being stabbed multiple times in the same place, but there’s also a courage filling her, drowning her, intoxicating her, until the words come out of her mouth.

“I love you.”

It’s the very first time that she’s said it. Those words, exactly. Sure, Imra has said it in different versions. She’s said it through her eyes, and through her hands. But she’s never said them aloud like that until now.

“I love you, Lena. I never thought that we would get here but look at us now. Look at how far we’ve come. And I may not have imagined that I would love you before but now I’m telling you with absolute certainty that I cannot imagine a day that I won’t love you. Even if we’re light years away. I will always love you, Lena Kieran Luthor.”

“I know. And I love you too, Imra. Just… promise me one thing.”

“What is it?”

“Find a way to come back to me,” Lena pleads.

“I will. I promise.”

-

A flash of white followed by a whizzing sound disturbs Lena’s sleep. She groans.

She rolls onto her side, eager to find Imra’s warmth beside her only to have her palm hit the sheets. She cracks her eyes open only for another flash of white to assault her already sensitive vision. Once again, she hears a whizzing sound following the flash.

“What the hell is going on?” she grumbles.

And then she hears a faint chuckle.

“I’m sorry,” Lena hears Imra say, but she doesn’t sound that apologetic at all.

Lena opens her eyes again. This time, the sight of Imra holding a polaroid camera is what greets her.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m taking your pictures,” Imra answers matter-of-factly. It makes Lena roll her eyes.

“I know that. What I mean to ask is why are you taking my pictures?”

The cheeky look on Imra’s face is instantly replaced with fondness. She holds out her hand to stroke Lena’s cheek with a finger.

“Because although your face is basically ingrained in my brain, I still want something physical I can look at. Something I can hold to remind myself that this isn’t just an elaborate dream. Something I can touch and pretend that it’s the real thing.”

“And you couldn’t wait until I was awake, until I could smile and look pretty for you?” Lena teases.

“You’re always beautiful, Lena. And no -I wanted to remember you like this.”

“What? Half-naked?” Lena jokes, if only to lighten the mood lest they send each other into a tearfest in the middle of the night.

It works. Imra lightly chuckles when she says, “No, silly.”

“Then what?”

“Peaceful. Knowing that I’m right beside you.”

It melts Lena’s organs right into a puddle.

“Come here,” Lena whispers and Imra immediately concedes.

Imra crawls to hover above Lena. She leans down just as Lena is raising herself up, and they meet halfway to seal their lips together in a soft kiss.

Imra moves to straddle Lena’s hip just as Lena lowers her head. Imra follows her, not allowing their lips to break apart.

Their kiss remains sweet and languid, like they have all the time in the world for themselves. They part for air soon enough, and Imra rests her forehead on Lena’s.

“I want to remember you like this too,” Lena whispers.

“What? Half-naked?” Imra smirks, repeating Lena’s earlier response.

“No… Mine.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: we're almost to the finish line. i can't believe it. thank you so much to everyone who's stuck by this story since the beginning. and to my lovely supercorp turned saturncorp shippers -you guys own my heart


	16. Chapter 16

Two weeks come too soon, and then it’s the day before Imra, Brainy, and Mon-El are supposed to leave.

The DEO holds a little gathering for them after normal work hours, just a little farewell crowd in the office with handshakes and exchanges of goodbyes with the agents they’ve become acquainted with in the past few months. J’onn is in the middle of the main hall giving a speech about how thankful he is for the Legion and for their help during their stay on present Earth. It’s brief and is awarded with an applause for the said team.

Lena stays in the corner the entire time, already missing Imra even though she hasn’t left yet. On the other side of the room stands Kara, eyeing Imra as the woman’s eyes flit back and forth towards Lena with sheer sadness painted all over her face. Kara doesn’t know how it feels like to have to leave the person she loves, but she’s sure that it’ll hurt as much as being the one left behind. Her eyes then turn to Lena who is standing across from her, leaning her shoulder on the wall, her arms crossed over her chest. Kara sighs, wishing that Imra didn’t have to leave.

Once J’onn finishes his speech and the niceties are done, Kara strolls over to Imra. Brainy is dragging Lena to a corner, no doubt intent on saying a proper goodbye, and Kara is thankful for it because it leaves her time to talk to Imra -to convince her to stay.  

Imra smiles sadly, her heart softening at the pleading look on Kara’s face.

“I know that I can make Lena happy, but I also know that she’ll be happier with you around,” Kara says, her words laced with so much emotion that Imra finds it difficult not to tear up.

“I’m so happy that she has you,” Imra says softly. “You love her so much.”

“She has you too. She doesn’t have to lose that.”

Imra sighs, “She’s not really losing me, Kara.”

“But you’re going away.”

“Just think of it as some sort of long-distance relationship,” Imra says, trying her best to smile to lighten up the mood. It doesn’t work.

“Do you really have to go?”

The smile on Imra’s face is sad and excruciating to look at, and Kara knows that it ‘s because it’s forged.

“I need to save the world. You understand,” Imra replies. She blows a breath as she looks away from Kara and out onto the city. Her shoulders are slumped, and her eyes are trained to the view from where they’re standing. Kara knows that she’s trying her hardest not to cry. It breaks something in her too, seeing Imra like this, trying to pull herself together when all she wants to do is crack at the weight of needing to leave the life that she has built for the life that she has left behind.

It’s an unfair decision, Kara knows. Duty or love.

“I’m proud of you,” Kara mumbles. It makes Imra whip her head to face her again.

“What? Why?”

“Because you’re making an honorable choice. I’m not saying it’s the right one. I mean, I don’t even know what the right choice is. I wouldn’t know what to do if I were in your position, but the fact that you’re choosing the world over, well, _your_ world, it’s admirable. The sacrifice that you’re making… It’s something to be proud of at least, even if it hurts.”

Imra smiles. It’s genuine albeit still sad, but for a while it makes her straighten her back with pride.

They’re silent for a while. It’s comfortable despite the looming unhappiness around them.

Imra breaks it with a soft sigh. “Take care of her.”

“You know I will.”

-

Lena and Imra spend the night on Lena’s balcony. They’ve placed a blanket on the floor and surrounded it with throw pillows for them to lounge on.

Lena is sitting in front of Imra, in between Imra’s legs, her back warmly pressed against Imra’s chest.

Imra’s hand is snaked around Lena’s waist, and her chin is resting on Lena’s shoulder. She’s kissing the soft skin on Lena’s tilted neck, and she’s pushing herself closer, tighter, because it’s the night before she’s supposed to leave, and she doesn’t want to let go.

“I want to show you something,” Imra whispers right into Lena’s ear. It makes her shiver.

“What is it?” Lena asks as she shifts to turn to the woman behind her.

“Take my hand,” Imra softly orders.

Lena obeys. She takes Imra’s hand and intertwines them together.

“Close your eyes.”

Lena does.

“I love you,” and right after Imra says it, a flash of color dances in Lena’s mind before a series of events begin playing in her head like she’s watching a sequence of home videos.

It starts with her walking towards Imra on the DEO balcony, and Lena instantly recognizes it as the very first time she’s come up to Imra to offer her friendship.

_I’m sorry, am I disturbing you?_

_No -but even if you are, it would be a welcomed disruption._

The scene then changes to their first messages over the phone, and then to their lunch meetings at CatCo, to Imra’s fight with Mon-El, and to Imra asking to stay at Lena’s apartment.

The scene shifts and shifts. Lena is taken to all of her moments together with Imra but in a different point of view, and that is how she feels it. The weight of Imra’s feelings for her as scene after scene plays in her head and she feels Imra’s feelings begin to grow from friendship into something else. She feels it weighing on her chest as Imra discovers that she’s fallen in love with her. How Imra’s heart threatened to burst from her chest the second time they accidentally kissed. How it almost stopped beating when Imra saw her held hostage in her own office. The pain that Imra felt as she tried to save her from her captors. The joy that overwhelmed her when she finally confessed her feelings.

_Of course I’d come, Lena. You know I would. For you. Although my timing could have been better._

_Yeah, your timing really needs work. I mean you just came crashing in and there you were._

_I didn’t know how or when or where it started, Lena. All I knew was that I was somewhere else, but that I had to get to you._

She feels every emotion tenfold. Every touch of Imra’s hand. Every word whispered. Every kiss. Every embrace. She’s taken to that night when they first made love, and she feels her skin tingle as it replays in her head.

And then the scene shifts again to all of their moments at home. To when she would arrive and Imra would be there with dinner already set on the table. There are scenes with Kara in them too. Their movie dates on weekends. Their breakfasts. All of it.

_I love you._

And before Lena knows it, the color fades and her eyes open back to the present.

“I didn’t know how to tell you how much I really love you. Words weren’t enough,” Imra softly says and Lena realizes that Imra is crying.

Lena brings her hand to cup Imra’s cheek. It’s too much.

“I love you so much,” Lena whispers. “I never thought that I would fall for you too. I never imagined that I would. But here I am, hopelessly in love with you too Imra Ardeen.”

“I promise I’ll find a way to come back. I promise.”

There’s a determination in her stormy eyes, and Lena wants to believe it, to hold on to it and never let go.

“I believe you.”

-

It’s time to say goodbye.

That’s the only thing circling around Lena’s head when she and Imra get to the DEO.

Their ship is already propped and Brainy and Mon-El are already inside of it.

Kara and Lena stand side by side, Imra in front of them, and Alex, J’onn, and Winn watch from the side as the three women say their farewells.

It’s Kara who wraps her arms around Imra’s first. She whispers something to Imra’s ear, something that the others don’t hear. It makes Imra lower her head and bite down her lower lip hard to stop herself from releasing a sob. Kara wipes her eyes with the heel of one of her hand, her other resting atop Imra’s shoulder. She gives it a firm squeeze before saying goodbye, and then she leaves to stand beside Alex and the rest of their friends, leaving Lena and Imra in the middle of the room.

Lena engulfs Imra in a tight embrace. Her hands are desperately clutching at the fabric of Imra’s suit, and her head is buried in the crook of Imra’s neck. Imra returns the embrace just as fiercely.

“Don’t miss me too much,” Imra whispers. “You’ll always have Kara with you, and me in here,” Imra says as she lays a palm flat against Lena’s sternum.

Lena tries her best not to cry with all the other people in the room. “I love you,” she whispers.

“I love you too. I promise I’ll find a way to come back.”

Imra looks over Lena’s shoulder, and Lena notices the way that Imra’s brows crease. She looks back and sees Kara having the same expression on her face, and then Kara smiles sadly as she nods.

“What was that?” Lena asked.

“I was asking for her permission.”

“To do what?”

“This,” Imra says right before she steps forward and kisses Lena with everything that she has left. Her arms rest on Lena’s hips. Lena grips Imra’s biceps.

And then they pull apart. They rest their foreheads against each other’s. And then Imra slowly back away, walking backwards until she’s standing on the platform aboard their ship. She raises a hand, and with a sad smile, waves her last goodbye.

And then she turns her back, and it doesn’t take long before their ship takes off and then she’s gone.

Kara is right beside Lena then.

“I’m here,” Kara whispers as she wraps an arm around Lena. It gives Lena the courage she needs to face Kara, to smile at her despite the ache in her chest.

“I know.”

“It’s okay if you’re sad. If you miss her. I miss her too,” Kara offers, and Lena’s heart threatens to burst at the understanding look on Kara’s face. “But…I know that Imra will come back.”

“How do you know that?”

Kara shrugs, giving Lena a smile that’s already making her feel slightly better. “Because when three people are meant to be together, the universe always finds a way to bring them back to each other. Everything will work out in the end.”

Lena doesn’t know what to say, doesn’t know how to properly convey how she damn lucky she feels because Kara is beside her, looking at her with her ocean blue eyes, and making her feel like everything’s going to work out in the end.

Years ago, Lena would have never thought that she would find love. But now she has people who truly love her, albeit the other one being on her way to a different place and a different time. But she has them. And they love her with all of their hearts that it’s enough for Lena to forgive the universe for how much she has suffered in the past. And now she has friends too. Friends who don’t want anything else from her other than the friendship that she can offer. And so with those thoughts in mind, she starts feeling lighter. Imra might have just left, and yes Lena feels something missing in her heart, but Kara’s optimism is already rubbing off on her. Maybe everything will work out in the end.

“I know that you love me. And I love you. And we love each other enough to be a whole with just the two of us,” Kara says with a bright smile, “But it’s you and me and her. She’ll come back for us.”

“Then I guess the only thing we can do is hope and wait.”

“And then it’ll be the three of us again.”


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: here we are at the end of the road. thank you so much to everyone who has read this, left a comment, bookmarked and gave a kudos. THIS IS THE VERY FIRST FIC I'VE EVER FINISHED IN ALL MY YEARS AS A WRITER and i'm actually a little teary eyed. you guys motivated me with all of your wonderful comments and they are what kept me going. 
> 
> i hope you guys support my other works (and my upcoming ones), and love them as much as you guys loved this. 
> 
> with all the love in my heart

**Epilogue**

It’s been three weeks since Imra had left, and although Lena admits to still missing her, she can also quite confidently say that she’s feeling so much better. Kara’s soft smiles and warm arms have made sure of that. It helps, Lena is fairly certain, to know that she has Kara to lean on.

Sometimes she thinks that it’s unfair that she’s missing someone else when Kara is right beside her, but Kara always manages to reassure her that missing Imra is as normal as the sun rising and setting.

“I miss her too,” Kara always tells her when she confides in feeling partial. It makes her feel better knowing that Kara understands how she’s feeling even though Kara doesn’t exactly miss Imra the way that she does.

Little by little, Lena and Kara settle to a life together without Imra. Lena’s beginning to get used to being alone in her apartment again, although she still keeps the clothes that Imra has borrowed unwashed and neatly folded atop the bed in the other room. Imra’s scent still lingers in them, and Lena cannot find it within herself to wash that away. It serves as a reminder for her that Imra was real, is real, and that she didn’t just pass by her life.

Things fall into place quite quickly actually. Nothing has really changed between Lena and Kara, although Kara keeps asking if she needs to try to fill up Imra’s side of Lena’s heart. Lena dismisses those immediately, always reassuring Kara that there isn’t any void she needs to fill. Lena misses Imra, but Kara is enough. She can’t really explain it without saying that she has two hearts. One whole in its entirety for Kara, and one tucked safely for Imra. It’s weird to describe it in that way because she knows that she only has one beating organ in her chest, but it’s the only way that Lena can describe it to reassure Kara that she _is_ enough, and that Kara doesn’t have to come up with love from two people.

Kara is quick to understand, and Lena understands that Kara’s worries only come from wanting Lena to have all of the love that she deserves.

She’s gotten it. By god, she’s gotten it. From Kara. From Imra. And from everyone around them, the people who have slowly become close to her too. Winn. James. Even J’onn. And there’s Alex, of course, who always gives her an irritated look whenever she bests everyone in Monopoly on game nights at Kara’s. Alex who invites her over for dinner at her apartment, just the two of them, because Sam had woken up and is moving to another city, but Alex wants to keep in touch. Lena helps her, of course, even though she almost gets hit with a vase for giving Alex an incredulous look.

And then there’s Eliza. Kara had introduced her to Eliza a month after Imra had left. Eliza had called her children then, stating that she misses them and that she wants them home for a weekend. Kara and Alex immediately agreed to it with Kara asking if she could bring Lena along to officially meet her adoptive mother. Eliza had been all too happy to agree.

Another month goes by before Kara takes her out on what she calls a super special date. Lena doesn’t know why Kara considers it special, but she finds out when Kara takes her to the planetarium. She has a device in hand that Winn had made for especially them. It’s a little machine that shows them Saturn in a definition that is unlike any other. She can’t really zoom in to a point where she can see the other life forms in the planet, so the device can’t actually show her Imra, but the thought that Imra is there somewhere is enough to make her happy. She kisses Kara so passionately right then and there that they hear a coughing noise behind them from a maintenance man. They part ways and blush profusely at having been seen like teenagers, but their embarrassment fades away when they get to Kara’s apartment after.

Life is good for Lena Luthor. And life continues being better day by day with Kara beside her and Imra in her heart.

She never thought it would be like this. That she could feel as whole as she feels now. Gone is the broken woman troubled by her past and her family’s sins. Here she is now, Lena Luthor who loves and is loved back.

Here she is now, Lena Luthor fiddling with the watch that had been gifted to her by the two women that she loves the most in the world and thinking that Imra will find a way to come back to her. She will continue to wait, and she will continue to hope, but if Imra doesn’t come back or if she can’t because of the life that she has a million lightyears away, then at least there was a time in her life when it was her and Kara and Imra.

Just the three of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: p.s. if you think you've seen the last of imra then you're severely wrong


End file.
